Battle Scars
by DayNap
Summary: Emma's back! Unfortuantely under terrible conditions. Damon's missing and she needs to find him before the Vampire Hunters do with the help of Katherine and her new Boy Toy Ben. New OC's Sequel to "Love Bites"
1. Expedition Georgia?

**Heeeeeeey Emmon (Damon/Emma) fans! Many of you were CRAVING a continuation of their story so I give you, the SEQUEL! YAY! Everyone do a little dance, give a little love, and make sure to review haha.**

Ep. 1

Katherine is rubbing off on me.

I've determined this because this this morning we decided to check into a hotel after two days of voyaging through the forest. When we went into the main lobby Katherine and Ben were trying to figure out what they were going to do because we didn't bring any money. They were arguing about what it was that they should do, in a little group, in low voices, as if they didn't want me to hear them or something. That in itself was beginning to tick me waaaay off. But then, Ben opened his big dump mouth.

"Maybe I could offer him a 'Fortune Telling' for a room and you could compel him to say yes."

"Oh my God! You guys are so idiotic!" I snapped. I think it may have set them back a little bit too because I've been nothing but quiet and compliant ever since we left. They peered over at me with shocked expressions. "Wouldn't it be a lot easier to just compel the receptionist to give us a room?"

"Oh…" Ben said like he didn't seem to know why he didn't think of that.

"I was thinking the same human." Katherine laughed, giving me a happy smile.

"You know I'm not really considered a human anymore right?" I asked smiling back at her. There was something about that smile that seemed different…it was genuine. It was without the sickening sneer to it and I'm still trying to fathom it came from her lips.

"Yes but, I don't know…human is like my new…nick name for you."

"Why don't I have an affectionate nick name?"

"Oh, grow some balls and stop acting like a jealous girlfriend why don't you?" She wrinkled her nose at Ben before she went over to do the deed. That was last night and at that moment I realized Katherine thinks more like I do than I thought. That sends chills down my spine every moment it passes through my mind.

Now, we're busy spiffing up the room to make sure it looks like we were never here. The less of a trail we leave, the better. "Where are we going next to find him?" I ask Ben with the hopes that he's seen a vision of us being somewhere else. He shoots me an annoyed stare, his green eyes flaring with resentment. I recoil and focus back down at the bed spread. I'm assuming he hasn't seen him yet and he's not particularly happy about that. Ben is supposedly talented enough at fore-seeing that he can control when and what it is he sees. Apparently, he's having trouble with finding Damon.

"Do you suppose he's shadowed?" Kat asks as she comes out of the bathroom.

"Shadowed?" I ask in slight curiosity.

"It's when a witch casts a spell on a person so that a psychic cannot see him or her in their visions."

"It's a pain in the ass! That's what it is!" Ben grumbles, straightening the pillows for the billionth time.

"Bonnie was the last person to see him before he fled…" I gasp, wondering if she left out a piece of her story when telling me about it a few months back. It would make sense for her to do it, considering the facts. She pretty much hates Damon's undead guts. She loves me and would do anything to keep me safe. Damon wanted to run away so he could "get over" what he'd done. She knew if I had a vision of Damon, I'd try to go after him. Which would also explain why it is that I haven't had a vision since he left.

"That little bitch of a sorceress has basically screwed us over!"

"Hey! She's a great person!" I snap, feeling my defensive blood creep into my veins.

"—and a hell of a witch." Katherine adds, taking my side yet again. "All we need to do is find a way to break the spell."

"Can we do that without a witch or knowing where Damon is?" Ben questions aloud.

"I don't have a single clue but we can try, can't we?"

"I know what we could do to both find him and lift the shadow!" I cheer as memories of spending days training with Bonnie flood into my mind. "Can you get your hands on a witch or warlock? A talented one at that?"

"I think so. Let me check my resources."

After a little while longer of straightening and primping, we flee the hotel, making sure to compel the receptionist to forget our ever being here. We rush into the nearest wood right away, not wanting to take any chances of being found. The moment we are sure that we are completely camouflaged by the branches of the forest, both Kat and I turn to Ben with expecting eyes. He nods his head and walks away from us. He sits his butt onto the nearest stone that's large enough for that sort of thing and plops his face into his hands, concentrating extremely hard on having a vision of something.

"How long do you think it's gunna be?" Kat asks as I watch her fidget with her sun-bracelet. She must be nervous because Kat never gets this fidgety. Not when I'm around anyways. I look down at my own magic ring and automatically feel as though my chest has completely swallowed my heart but it keeps gasping for more. I swallow in turn to keep my feelings kept in their storage unit inside of me. None of us want to show how lost, unsure, or unhopeful we're all already becoming. Our biggest tool is malfunctioning, not being able to see what it is that he needs to.

"It shouldn't be long. My visions come to me fast. If he's looking for one then it should zoom into his pretty boy head of his any minute now."

"He IS quite the pretty boy, isn't he?"

"Not up to par with your usual type either."

"I need his powers and he wants crazy hot vamp sex. Our relationship is nothing serious and after he is done serving his purpose, we'll be gone quicker than that dumb Geico Caveman show."

"Oh." I say with a slight disappointed, jealous scowl. "So, you ARE doing this because you're still in love with Damon then." It comes out and lashes her in the face quicker than I can filter it or even stop it from coming out completely.

"I told you already that I'm not. What would cause you to believe I'm lying?"

"Do you really want to go over this now? I mean, we just started our journey and I don't want to get in a fight with you. I mean, you're Katherine Peirce for starters. You're pretty much known to lie shamelessly, without one once of consideration for anyone but yourself." I sigh and rub the back of my neck. I glance over at Ben, praying that he has almost found the vision we need to venture onward.

"True…but that cannot be the only reason for this. What is bouncing around in that paranormal mind of yours human?" She props herself up against a tree, looking at me with true curiosity in her eyes.

"You…back two months ago…you…y-you drugged Damon into being in love with you. Katherine, how is that supposed to make me feel like nothing is going in your heart that is telling you that you want him. Forever."

"I did that to mess around. I was bored and I needed something fun to do. I mean at first I kind of liked the idea of Damon falling all over me but, that's just it. I liked the idea of Damon falling all over me, not of actually being in love with Damon. It doesn't make much sense when I say out loud but I promise you that it's the truth. _That _is what you can believe." Katherine grips my shoulder and burns her chocolate orbs into mine, almost as if she's going to try and compel me but, her eyes never dilate. "I give you my word."

I nod my head but, a part of me still isn't buying this. As long as she keeps her distance from him and stays with Ben then I'll be fine. Until then, I've got to keep my guard up around her. Any weakness she finds in me she'll use against me later in life. I can tell.

"I wish he'd hurry up." Katherine says a little louder than she has to, hoping he'll over hear us. I smile at her meekly, and rest my head down in my hands. I close my eyes and let myself drift away…

"Where am I?" I gasp, shooting my eyes open and darting them around in shock at the change in scenery. No one ceases their movement, they all act as if I'm not even standing there, watching them all scurry around in a one room home. My eyes widen as I see myself trying to bargain with the young warlock male. It's so weird to see yourself from outside of your body. I'm pleading, giving off a trusting air with a mix of desperation. Katherine isn't present in the room and Ben is standing in the doorway, watching me with hopeful eyes gleaming. The room is wrecked, as if it'd been destroyed but, none of us seem at all fazed by that. I catch one line that stands out to me the most.

"You came all the way to Locksley, Georgia to ask for my assistance?" The man asks, looking at me with interested eyes, as if he wants to peel away my guard a little further and take a deeper look at me. The man is on the older side so I don't know the origins of his interest. It doesn't matter though because that's all I needed to know.

"Oh my God!" I huff, finding myself back in the forest, in Katherine's arms.

"Are you okay? You were fine one moment and the next you were on the ground, unconscious." She whispers, trying to not distract Ben from his vision searching.

"Locksley, Georgia. That's where our warlock is!" I sing, jumping up and rushing over to tell Ben. Katherine jumps up in shock so great, she almost looks alarmed. "Ben! Ben, stop that rubbish!" I nudge him, causing him to jerk up erect and glare at me with bloodshot eyes. "I've just had a vision! I know where we must go and what we must do!" Ben glares at me a little longer before it is hidden behind joy that is shading his jealousy.

"That's wonderful! Where?" He jumps up and wrings his arm over my shoulder, leading me further into the wood as I explain to him my vision. Katherine follows behind, making sure to listen quite intently in on our conversation. After talking for quite a long while and walking for many miles Ben suggests we camp out for the night. I quickly agree because I am actually quite tired from the day's events.

Katherine and I share a tent while Ben gets his own. It seems a little petty to have a girl's and a boy's tent; when we are all mature enough to handle sleeping next to each other. It doesn't really matter though, it was initially Kat's idea and I don't want her to get upset for whatever reason. Here we lay, side by side. We're both just staring up at the ceiling cloth of the tent, neither of us daring to speak a word.

"It's a good thing you had that vision today." I hear Kat mumble under her breath. I turn over onto my side to face her as she keeps her gaze at the ceiling, as if she's talking to it instead of me. "Ben was trying extremely hard to have that vision but…I could tell it wasn't coming to him. For whatever reason, it came to you. Don't tell him this but I think you may end up being the more powerful one out of the two of you."

"Except I can barely control my powers and you insisted on me leaving the people who were teaching me." I remind her, lifting my gaze back up to the cloth above my head. "I need lessons Katherine…or I don't know what will happen to me."

"Nothing." She replies and I look over at her, intrigue pouring from my gaze. "You'll go back to normal. No more visions, no more levitation, no more talking to spirits, nothing. It's the old 'Use it or lose it' law of nature. You can choose to let it go and it will. If not, you must learn to control your power and it will stay with you always. Ben blabbed on about it to me when I told him about you. He told me it was important that we make haste because of it."

"Do you think he'd teach me? Give me lessons and all of that."

"I'm sure he would. Ben may be conceited a bit of a jerk sometimes, but he's got a good heart. Something I tend to lack in."

I want to comfort her. I want to tell her she is wrong, that somewhere deep inside of her is that good genuine part of her. I know if I did, I'd be only extruding false hope. Katherine has ignored her humanity for so long that it would take a miracle for her to dig it back up. Because of that unspoken truth, I don't say anything. Neither does she. We just lay there, letting ourselves slowly drift away into sleep.

Right before I let myself go, a thought occurs to me. What are we going to do when we find Damon? I ignore the question and slip into a dreamless sleep. We have a lot of traveling to do in the morning in order to make it to Georgia in time.


	2. New Lessons

**OMG HEYYY Everyone! I AM SSSSSOOO SORRY! If you read my bulletin then you know that my files were all erased and I had to re-create this chapter for you all. I promise that this one is much better than the original version and this one took me only a few days to write, whereas the other one was taking me months! So, here it is! Tell me what you think, the story line will be picking up more soon. PROMISE! Enjoy 3 VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

I wake up to the sound of Ben and Katherine fighting…again. It's been a daily occurrence that they begin their annoying bickering. It's always pointless and annoying things that they have been fighting over like who got to lead the way or where we keep our campsite located. This morning however, it's louder than normal and if it gets much louder it wouldn't even take a supernatural creature to find us.

"Shut the hell up!" I scream as I sprint out of Kat's and my own tent. The both freeze in place, as if I hit the pause button on a movie. Never have I snapped at them like this before but, there's only so much that one can take of such loud screaming! "If you keep fighting at this rate Kat will lose her cool and we could be found out! So how about you both do the three of us a favor and stop it!"

"Okay…" Kat mumbles slightly irritated from my attitude towards her and she begins to walk away from the camp site to "keep guard" while Ben and I pack up the tents for us.

"Don't worry about her, she's just annoyed because she knows that your right and she won't be getting her way this time around." Ben reassures me with an unenthusiastic eye roll as we go to dis-assemble our tents yet again. It's been a week since I had the vision of the warlock that had told us where to go next and we were still not in Georgia yet. We were almost to the border, that much I knew for sure but, faith and tolerance was running low in all of us.

I crouch down and begin to take down my tent when I feel a pair of hands land over mine. I close my eyes and pretend that they belong to Damon. In my day dream I turn around to stare into those deep blue orbs that glimmer and shine like a vast starry sky on a dark night. He is smirking down at me as if I were being silly for acting like this to find him because in my day dream he's right there and there is no need to look for him. I part my lips slightly and feel myself be bound into a trance of wanting to kiss him and not even from being compelled; my own free will wants it more than anything. I'm about to lean in to kiss him when I feel my vision shatter and the guy's face near mine has blonde hair and green eyes.

"I got it Emma, you can relax." Ben says in a low voice, glaring over his shoulder at Katherine who is trying to pretend that she isn't looking over at him every few seconds. I shake my head and try to shake his hands off of mine. "I'm serious Em." The sincerity catches me off guard and I look up at him with a slight smile on my face, despite the tears in my eyes. I nod my head and slip my hands out of his, frightened from my experience of believing he was Damon. He notices my expression and his eyes go sad at the realization that I was upset about something.

"I'll be over by her…" I mumble in a shaken up voice of a person on the verge of tears. I stumble over next to Kat and gaze out at the vast barren forest laid out before our eyes like a painting. I graze my eyes over the disorder of the bushes and branches that sprouted from everywhere.

"You need to get learning Human." Katherine says in a tone that sounds as though she's talking to no one in particular despite the fact that she's just addressed me. "You are useless if you cannot use your powers. After we set up camp again, you and Ben need go get going on your first lesson. Savvy?"

"Um…yeah." I speak with a small voice as she nods at me and continues to look on through the silence.

We've spent so many weeks wandering, searching and we still haven't even gotten half way to finding him. I didn't expect us to be out here for two weeks and just stumble upon him but I did half-expect to be closer to finding him by now. I don't even know what we are going to do when we get there. I only know that it's where we have to go next.

"…it makes sense since you took us all away from the only people that were teaching me how to control my powers."

"Stefan will forgive you in a heartbeat Emma, please! Don't try to beat yourself up over him." She chuckles low to herself as Ben finishes packing one of the two tents and then he progresses over to the second one.

Stefan.

There is a name I haven't heard or even thought of since I left. I wonder how he took my letter… What if he's out here somewhere looking for me? He wouldn't do that would he? I told him not to, I told him to give me my space but, that doesn't mean he has to listen. My letter was convincing enough that something was clearly wrong and that I was a clear liar.

Dear Stefan,

I'm so sorry for the scare today out in the field but, I had an epiphany moment and I realized that I had to get out of Mystic Falls. I need to expand my horizons, learn the jack of my trade, and collaborate with others of my kind. I know that my decision sounds extremely dangerous and risky and I guess that it is but, I just couldn't stay in there where I was being held back by your care for me and concern that I'd tire myself out. I must learn my limits on my own which I never will if you kept on being there to shelter me. I apologize for leaving so quickly and without any goodbye except for this letter. Tell everyone that I've said goodbye, I already told my mom that I was going on a summer trip with some friends I met at school so you won't have to worry about covering for me. Just stay away from my mom because she'll want to know why I haven't contacted anyone and then begin to worry for me. I promise that I will return to Mystic Falls someday and when I do, you and Elena will be my first stop. Hope to see you in the future. Good bye.

Love always,

Emma Reeves

Katherine actually compelled my mother to not worry about me because she knew I was safe and if anyone asked where I was then she'd say that I was studying abroad somewhere. Yes, I am a terrible person, you don't have to say it because I already know.

"Let's get moving." Ben grumbles as I have a tent and hiking pack strapped to my back. "We're almost to the Georgia border and from there we have to find a way to get directions to Locksley. We have no more time to waste."

"Oh and what part of our time have we 'wasted' supposedly?" Kat retorts and she grimaces over at Ben with a soured expression. "Every day we've been busting our asses to get down through multiple states! I'd say we're actually making pretty good time considering that we've been going at human pace and you seem to be refusing to teach our little human _anything_."

"Oh! I'm sorry!" He spits back with vehement as he tosses his pack back on the ground. I jump back in shock and try to urge him to put it back on and lead the way but, he's set in his decision to leave it there. "Come on Emma! Let's go take our first lesson right now!"

"Oh no, that's fine-" I start shaking my head and trying to lead the way out but Ben takes a hold of my arm so I can't really go anywhere.

"Kat can stay here and _keep watch_ while we're gone! She doesn't mind! Do you _dear?"_

"You don't have-"

"FINE! GO! YOU WERE THE ONE THAT JUST SAID WE WERE WASTING OUR TIME! GO! DON'T LET ME STOP YOU!" Kat has finally snapped…

"Ok, let's go!" I finally give in and rush away into the thickets to get us away from the raging Katherine. As we walk away in rushed footsteps I distinctly hear the sound of a tree toppling over.

I sweep a large branch out of the way and Ben and I crawl into a small clearing that is completely secluded from where our camp used to be. It isn't very big, maybe fifty yards wide and twenty long. Most of the field is filled with long soft grass and wildflowers. The border of the clearing is thick bushes and trees that keep us camouflaged from everywhere else in the woods.

"Okay, so are you ready to learn how to master every power that you have stored into that tiny little figure of yours?" Ben asks slyly as he props up on the trunk of a tree. I smirk at him and nod slowly like a wise alloc. "Before we start anything however I need to warn you that these lessons are not a joke. They are going to be painful and rigorous! You will not be able to master anything the first time that you learn a lesson. We will take it one lesson at a time and see how it goes. Are you ready for that?"

"I think so…" I mumble, not realizing that this was going to be taken so seriously.

"You can't _think_ anything! You have to KNOW!" He shouts with firm rage, as if I was not taking this seriously enough.

"I know I am!" I correct myself and take a deep breath and try my best to relax.

"I know what you want to learn the most Emma. Every psychic LOVES flustering vampires with their ability to reject compulsion without the use of vervain. That trick however, takes a lot of work and you don't even have the basics down yet. How about we start there?"

"Okay, which would be?"

"Vision searching. Psychics will always get those random spontaneous visions but, one of the most important skills to have is to look for a vision that is out there and force yourself to find it. Do you want to learn this today?"

"Yeah…of course." I say with as much of a confident tone as I can make at this point. He pushes off of the tree and walks up to me with a determined look on his face.

"Close your eyes." He demands of me and I giggle at him as I do as I'm told. "I'm being serious Emma! This is important to doing this! Take me seriously!" I clear my throat, keeping my eyes shut tightly. "Concentrate, think about what topic you want to see! Focus on it!" Ben instructs and he does a surprisingly good job of sounding like a teacher. "Whatever blocks there are, anything in your head, trying to distract you, push passed them! It's hard but, that's all you really have to do to master this skill. I must warn you though, it's easier said than done."

_Stefan…_ My mind echoes out of nowhere. _I want to see Stefan, just to see how he's doing._ Right as I say it in my head, it splits open, my brain contracting and expanding at the same time to produce this answer. My eyes begin to burn as though salt was poured into them, forced to stay wide open and persuading them to do that for real. I'm about to cry out in pain when I'm suddenly attacked by my own thoughts, all attracted by my searching mind. As the sight of these other thoughts my brain swells larger until it is on the breaking point of shattering. My mind's eye strays from what it wants, eyeing the other thoughts and memories. _If I look at one of them instead, the pain will go away._

"NO!" I scream in frustration, shooting open my hazel eyes and staring up into two olive circles that are staring back down at me in concern, yet expectancy. "What happened? How'd I get on the ground?"

"When you started searching, you pretty much toppled over. Pain was evident from the look on your face. Luckily, you let go of your attempt before grabbing onto a different vision other than the one you were looking for. That would have only made the pain worse."

"But, my brain-"

"—was playing tricks on you. It's all a part of being a psychic." He holds out his hand to help me up. It's right as I take it that I realize that my hands are not only coated in sweat, but are also trembling. "You held onto that for about ten minutes. I'm pretty impressed considering it was your first lesson."

"Really? Should we run it again?"

"Not today. Your body is far too weak from the first time. Let's head back over to Katherine and get out of here."

"While we're on the subject, can you two please just make up again? Your fighting and snippety comments are really pestering me."

"Okay, fine. But only because you asked."

Quick smiles are shared between the two of us as Kat comes back into sight, looking impatient and annoyed. Unintentionally, I step closer to Ben for protection. If anyone can protect me against Kat, it's him…well actually it's not but, considering he's the closest best thing I've got, I'll just cling to him for the time being. He looks over at him with a sly smirk, recognizing the fact that I've just done that. I take this opportunity to shoot him a warning look, reminding him of what I want him to do.

"Grovel." I mutter with a nudge at the lower section of his back. He rolls his eyes and nods, walking over to Kat and taking her hand in his.

From this point I don't really understand what is being said because he's whispering and so is she. He must've done well however because a few seconds later she's smiling and kissing him square on the mouth. I let out a relieved breath and catch up to them and put my pack on. I lead the way as we begin to travel again for the day with me in front and the two love birds hand in hand behind me. Slightly nauseating.

I inwardly sigh at the realization that I used to be a romantic and now I'm gagging at stuff that used to make me all giggly and happy for the couples. _Damn it Damon! Look what you're doing to me!_

I leave my thoughts from him behind and keep going on without thinking of him. It turns out to be a bigger task than I initially bargained for. Every thought that passes through my mind is about him. He's enveloped my mind and finds a way to keep it derived onto him no matter what I'm trying to think of. That asshole has me _still_ in love with him.

The day drags on as we hike through the woods. Three strangers that are nothing alike and here we are, forced to work together on a trip to save someone who is again totally different from the rest of us. What twisted up game is fate playing with here? Strangely enough though, we talk endlessly about so many interesting things! Katherine has many amazing stories being that she's lived to watch the world evolve and change into what it is today. Ben can tell us of the many visions that have come to him in the past that had piqued hi interest and that he sometimes goes searching for just to watch them over again. I was the only one not particularly contributing anything grand to our conversations, only commenting on their stories.

"You had me compel your mother…" It takes me a second or two to realize Katherine is addressing me before I nod my head in return, not sure where she's leading with all of this. "…so, where is your father?"

All the color drains from my face as I stare at her and I suddenly have stopped moving forward. Tears form at the edge of my eyes, surprising me immensely. Never has the mention of my dad and the divorce made me this emotional. "M-my parents were divorced when I was seven. Ever since the court gave my mother total custody we've been moving from one place to another, which last year brought me to Mystical Falls. I haven't seen my father ever since we left New York when I was ten."

"Oh…gosh I'm so sorry Emma!" Ben gushes, placing a comforting hand on my forearm. "If Kat knew then I'm sure that she wouldn't have asked…"

"No, it's fine…really." I breathe as I try to catch it as quickly as possible. I clear my throat and begin to voyage on once more. "I'm totally over it…"

"You don't sound it." He urges on as he lets go of Katherine's hand and walks side by side with me. "Do you want to stop and talk about it? It might make you feel better. Separation is never easy on the child that's involved and bottling up how you feel about it definitely will not help anything."

"Thanks for the advice Dr. Phil but, I'd rather we just keep walking. I just miss my dad, that's all. This has nothing to do with the…uh…divorce." The latter of my sentence comes out much shakier than I originally hoped. I sigh and keep our group moving. I feel Ben draw back to Kat and they both share a worried look.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Ben mutters in a low voice, not knowing that I can hear him pretty clearly.

"I don't know…there's only so much pain and loss that a human can take. Hopefully as her lessons progress she'll get to be stronger emotionally, just like the rest of us." Kat responds actually sounding truly concerned for me.

I keep my eyes forward, pretending that I didn't just hear that. I'm sick of being the weak link of the group! I want to feel proud and strong and like I can actually defend myself and those I love. Which, may now include Ben and maybe even…no…it's impossible! There is no way that I could ever love _that._ But, here it is staring me in the face.

Katherine. She's like a sister to me now.

Talk about ironic, huh?

The day keeps on going and conversation keeps flowing only now I have resorted to total silence. I only listen to them talk and tell each other about their past. It's only when they address me directly with a question that I answer them and I use as few words as humanly possible. I know that I am worrying them and making them believe that they need to do something to help me but I'm too deep in thought to honestly care.

Do I care about my parent's divorce? I use to remember hearing them screaming on the top of their lungs about how different things could have been if they hadn't screwed up. My dad wanted to be free and do the things he never got to because of the mistake he had made. It would send my mother into a fit of tears every night and towards the end for their marriage, she would sleep in my room with me because she didn't want to be anywhere near my father. Then the fights began to turn into it being my mother's fault for not taking care of their problem while they still could because then they could have done things the right way and wouldn't feel as trapped as they did then. That was when my mother asked him for a divorce because even though he'd regretted their so called "mistake" she loved the choice she made.

I was their mistake.

My parents met and began dating in high school. They loved each other very much back then but, I guess my dad wasn't clever enough to figure out the use of a condom.

So did it bother me that my dad didn't even ask for partial custody in the divorce trial? I guess so.

I watch all day as the suns creep down below the tree line as the moon chases after its old position in the sky. Night is upon us and it's about time to make camp, according to Ben.

"How about I set our tent tonight Human?" I hear Katherine say over my shoulder and trying to take up my job for me.

Anger flares up inside of me and spreads like a wildfire. I slap her hand away before I can even think it through completely. Our eyes snap together into an intense glare as I can see control slipping in Kat's eyes. As I catch up with my temper, I realize what I've just done. Recoil for only a second before I stand my ground, if Kat wants to throw a temper tantrum, let her. "Just because I'm upset doesn't mean I'm handicapped!"

I felt the words drop from my lips and for a second I can't believe they came from me. Anger shoots back and forth between the two of us and it probably would have escalated to my death. Until I see Ben snatch Kat by the arm and yank her away from me.

I knew I liked that boy.

"Everyone needs to stop it! You said it yourself this morning Emma!" Ben snaps at me with slight disappointment in his voice. "You finish setting up that tent, Kat you can help me with my tent. Maybe even sleep with me in mine tonight."

"All you had to do was ask baby." Kat quirks, twisting his words to make them dirty. A sensual smirk plays at Ben's lips and he wiggles his eyebrows at her. "Have fun doing that alone Human. We'll be busy tonight, I'm sure you understand."

"Of course." I say through gritted teeth as I set my tent up and sigh in annoyance. Then in a lower voice I mutter "Slut."

"Proud of it!" She laughs, using her stupid vampire skills against me.

I take a deep breath and remind myself that I can keep my cool as long as I stayed. Part of the problem is that I am staying as calm as I possibly can under these conditions and it is beginning to eat away inside of me. What I really need is just a time to let out my anger, my sadness, my sense of loneliness, my pain. All of it is just conglomerating together into a massive pile inside of me and it's beginning to seep through the invisible cracks in my shield. I suddenly realized what I need and I quickly put up the rest of my tent and rush inside.

"Just let me Kat. I need to get my feelings out. Don't let Ben come to check on me. I need this to feel better." I whisper, knowing that Kat will most likely hear me and follow my orders.

Then, I lose it. I open my gate and let the water pour over my cheeks. I collapse into a heap of my sleeping bag and continue to sob hopelessly. I let the tears stream continuously down my cheeks, letting all the pain that's been kept inside of me just pour out. Ironic how the way to fill the emptiness inside is just to let all the pain out. I pound my fists at the ground, pretending that they ware Damon's face. How dare he? How dare he decide what was good for me! This is all his stupid fault! I just keep going and going for about an hour before I slowly die down and let my cries simmer into low whimpers and sniffles.

It worked. I feel much better. Less edgy and anxious. I take a few deep, calming breaths and close my eyes. I needed that a lot. Too bad that now that I'm done making the loud noises I can hear the two doing it in the next tent over…


	3. Dancing with Wolves

My first clue that something is not right is by the sound of people emerging from the tent next door. I ignore it the best I can and try to keep my eyes shut. My gut keeps lurching though, telling me to get up and see what is going on, what's wrong. Then, growls begin to rise in the throats of whatever is outside. I shoot up and race out of my tent to see what is going on, my small hunting knife hidden in the hand behind my back. I feel my breathing pick up rate as I wait for my eyes to adjust to the dark moonlight. I quickly gaze up into the sky, hoping to at least be able to see the stars. It's the moon however that makes me gasp.

It's a full moon tonight.

I look out at our campsite, finally able to see what's around me and gasp. Encircling our camp from all sides is a rather large pack of werewolves. The knife in my hand drops to the ground in the shock that I'm face to face with these creatures. I've heard of them in so many tales and legends from Stefan but, it's another thing to be right in front of them.

I open my mouth to scream in the terror that is striking me fast and hard like a cobra bite. No sound comes out because a hand is clasped over my mouth and I am suddenly lifted up by my arms into a nearby tree. I look over at my captor to find Katherine helping me climb the tree as fast as she possibly can. I look up to our destination to find Ben already sitting up there, looking down at the ground with worry.

"Our stuff is going to be bloody ruined thanks to these _dogs_." Ben curses as we make it to his level in the tree branches. "I hope there was nothing down there that you cared too much about because it's all going to be gone when we get back down there."

"You realize they are just going to wait us out, right guys?" I whisper, watching the wolves on the forest floor watching me back. "They can't climb but they can just wait for us to have to come down."

"Yeah and once the sun come back up they aren't a threat to us anymore." Kat points out, sitting down on the same branch as Ben, leaving me by myself on the branch opposite them. I nod my head, realizing that she's right and that everything will be okay this time around. Too bad we won't have anything to carry with us once we climb back down in the morning. Which is only going to make this trip even more difficult and trying than it was before, thank you karma!

I sigh and run my hand through my hair. It's when I don't feel anything snag against my chocolate brown locks that I begin to get worried. My ring _always_ causes my hand to snag in my strands of earthy coloration. I look at my hand and realize that the ring that Damon gave to me for my sixteenth birthday isn't on my finger…meaning that it's down in my tent which the wolves are currently eyeing, determining how they are going to tear it apart this time.

Acting on an impulse, I begin to crawl down branch by branch, back towards the ground.

"What in the name of Dracula are you doing?" Ben whispers in a fierce, harsh tone. "Get your ass back up here Emma! You're going to get torn to splinters down there! Are you insane?"

"Yes!" I gasp, trying to keep my fear hidden as I keep moving downward. "I don't have the ring that Damon gave me and I will never be able to live with myself if I lose it! Either way I'll be dead."

"Katherine! Stop her!" Ben shoves her off of the branch and points at me. I keep moving, almost to the lower branches by now. The wolves have noticed and are beginning to form around the trunk of the tree. I need a plan and I need it fast if I am going to out-wit these men-dogs.

I feel a hand grab the back of my neck and yank me back up against my will. I scream and kick, hoping to cause her to lose her grip on me. She wraps her arm around my neck, causing my airways to be narrowed, choking me. I cough at her rough handling as she climbs back up the tree with much skill and precision.

This time I am plopped down in between Ben and Katherine, to keep me from climbing down, against my will. I pout as I catch my breath.

"What is the matter with you?" Ben scolds, taking a firm hold on my upper arm. "You were going to give your life up for some stupid ring that your ex-boyfriend gave you? Are you really that pathetically in love with him?"

"Yes!" I announce dignifiedly, in a way that neither Katherine nor Ben had been expecting. "Why else would I be out here, trying to save him, despite everything that has happened? You didn't think that this was about stopping the hunters did you? The vampire hunters are Kat's problem, not mine."

"Sorry…" He mumbles, thinking hard as to what he could do to help me out. Then, like a stroke of brilliance, he turns back to me. "You said that you were extremely well practiced in levitating things, right?"

"Yeah…" I urge Ben on, a smile beginning to play at my lips from what I think he's leading on to say.

"Try to levitate the ring up here, before it's too late…" Kat whispers, catching on as well and smiling at me.

"But, I can't see it and it's farther away than anything that I've ever levitated before…"

"Come on Emma! You can do this! Step it up a notch! Just picture the ring and summon it to do as you please! Just like before just without it there to stare at!" Ben educates me, giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

I stare down at my tent on the ground, picturing the ring from memory as well. I stare as hard as I can to the point where my eyes hurt and I'm getting a headache, but still nothing. I press my fingers against my temples trying my best to not break concentration.

"Just relax, you'll get it. Getting flustered only makes it worse." He reminds me, watching my pained expression with worry.

Suddenly I see it drag itself in the dirt from the open flap of my tent. The ring! I gasp in surprise and pride, as I feel the congratulatory hands of Kat and Ben on my shoulders. I re-gain focus and keep staring, now able to pick it up off the ground, being that I can see the object I'm levitating.

One of the dogs notices it and begins to bark at it, realizing that there is a benedict Arnold psychic among them. The others see it to and they all race towards it, trying to stop it before it gets too high above their heads to reach it. I realize this right away and fling it up higher in the air, to watch all the sprinting dogs collide with one another. Ben and Kat roar with laughter as I slowly struggle to bring it the rest of the way to me. Once it's within reaching distance I stand up and step over Katherine.

"Emma…" Ben's voice has warning heeded into it. Kat hushes him to see if I can do it without killing myself.

I pretend I'm on a balance beam and just do my best to not look down at the ground. I've heard from somewhere that doing that will make you more liable to trip and fall. The tree branch becomes more flimsy as I walk, bending under my weight.

"Emma…!" His voice is louder this time but, I'm not quite there yet so I keep tip toeing towards the teetering edge.

Once I'm absolutely sure that another step towards the edge of this branch and it will give out I stop and reach out my hand, within inches of the ring. I lean forward a little farther and my fingertips just barely brush it, causing it to spin in mid-air. I gulp and lean in even further, feeling myself losing balance. This time my fingers can just barely fiddle with the small metal piece of jewelry. I've got it trapped with my fingers and I sigh in relief. I did it!

_BARK!_

One of the wolves has recovered enough from their run-in with its pack members and noticed me battling against gravity. This sound causes me to become startled and I jump, causing me to lose my balance as well.

"EMMA!" Ben screams only this time Kat has joined in with him.

I begin to cascade downwards facedown at a pace much too fast for any mortal to think of what to do. Good thing I'm not mortal. I take a deep breath and think of what to do, the ground is tumbling towards me quickly, time to think on my feet. I slam my eyes shut and brace myself for the feeling of my body being smacked with the forest floor.

But, I never receive this sensation. I only hear the sound of complete and utter silence.

I slowly flutter my eyes open just ajar. The ground is only a foot from my face, but not quite there yet. I look over my shoulder to see that I am levitating in the air. I sigh in relief once more, taking notice of the ring that I have wound tightly in my fist, the stone imprinting on my palm.

Then I notice the wolves are surrounding me, at eye level.

"Bring me back up! BEN LEVITATE ME BACK UP!" I yell upwards to the two people that are staring down at me dumbfounded. I feel my entire body be jerked back up, away from the growling predators.

Once I'm back up, Katherine takes me into her arms and hold on tight. I pause for a second, trying to fathom this…_Katerina Petrova is embracing me in a hug?_

This seems to hit her conscience too because she automatically lets go and tosses me over to Ben. He takes me up from her arms right away, sighing on the back of my neck. "Don't scare me like that again, you got it kid?"

"We'll see." I tease, pulling away from him and taking my seat in between them. I slide the ring back onto my finger and feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. Damon is not gone from me quite yet. "Thank god you were able to stop my fall Ben! I would have injured something and then those dogs would have eaten me alive!"

"I was able to bring you back up but…I never stopped your fall." Ben admits in a breathless voice, as if he had just run a mile.

"If you didn't…then who did?" I ask looking over to Katherine on my other side for any ideas. They both just look at me with inquiring glances, as if they think that it should be obvious. "Me? You think I did it?"

"It's the only thing that makes any sense…"

"I was so scared, I couldn't think of what to do so, I just let go and braced myself for the fall…"

"Maybe your powers took control of the situation this time…" Kat offers. "You said so yourself that you can't control them yet…"

"Wake up…" A voice close to my ear mumbles in a tone that is soft and caring and slightly like one that has just woken himself. "Come on, the wolfies are all gone now. It's safe to go back down there and get going." I grumble something about not wanting my eggs scrambled and I open my eyes slightly enough that my eyes are locked with a pair of light green ones. I close them briefly before opening them all the way, facing an amused smirking blond boy. "Eggs?"

"Shut up!" I mumble sitting up on the tree branch that I slept on all last night. "Back when I was back home, whenever my mom woke me up on the weekends it was just to ask me how I'd like to have my eggs made. I'm a little homesick, sorry."

"It's fine!" I hear a voice echo from below us. I lean over the branch and peak through the leaves to find Katherine searching through the piles of chewed up tents and other objects, looking for anything salvageable. I smirk down at her first and then transfer it up to Ben who is laughing over my stupid

"Can we go now, please?" I whine, fighting my urge to push him over the edge of this branch and laugh at his fall. I begin to climb down, hoping that he's following me. "How close are we to Georgia anyways? When was the last time that we checked?"

"A couple of days…" Ben sighs after we've both hopped to the ground. "Kat, do you want to go check? We'll wait here for you."

She gives him a lingering evil look, totally extruding an aura that exclaimed _Hell no! You do it, Mr. Visions!_ But being as Ben isn't stepping down from his ground, Kat is gone in the blink of an eye to go into town and see what she can figure out. I finally make it to the ground and plop down on a tree stump and stare at our mauled apart camp ground.

"At least we don't have much to carry anymore…" I joke slyly as he follows in suit with me, only he picks me up and sits underneath me, setting me back on top of his lap. "What are you doing Ben?" Every nerve ending in my body begins to jolt, telling me to stay where I am but, my heart was calling out to Damon, screaming for his help that never came.

"I don't…I don't know…I kind of just….I did it without thinking really…" He stammers, unsure of what to say to me now that we're on top of each other. "Maybe it's time to tell you a little more about our kind…"

"What the hell does this have to do with _our kind_?" I was slightly mad at him for acting in such a way and even more that he is speaking as if this were no big deal.

"Psychics, for centuries, have been undoubtedly loyal to humans, being that they are the most like us out of any other creature. That's why you have psychics telling fortunes for humans, it's in our nature to want to help them out. That I'm sure it comes as no shock to you. Something that may however, is that _by nature_ psychics have this undeniable pull towards other psychics and _sometimes_ that pull is one that is stronger than love…"

There really isn't anything that I want to say to this new realization besides the incredulous look that is shooting out of my eyes. _Stronger than LOVE_?

"Now, here comes the thing that I find most puzzling about you Emma…" Ben continues, never letting me go to stand up, and still holding me in place on his lap. "We're supposed to hate vampires with everything in us. We're supposed to know where they are when they walk in and experience this wave of hatred towards them! So you could imagine that when Kat told me that there was another psychic that was willing to help save Damon that was…_in love_ with him, I was floored. You are in love with what is supposed to be our most hated enemy."

My mouth drops in shock as I just stare at him, I squirm around in his grip as I begin to feel uneasy. Ben releases me and I begin to pace as I try to mull this over. I'm supposed to hate Damon and Stefan and Caroline and Katherine…well I _already_ hate Katherine. What about that power I seem to be lacking? I should have known from the moment I met Stefan what he was and I was supposed to hate him! So, why didn't I?

"What about you?" I suddenly ask, turning to face the boy staring at me from a spot on the tree stump. "Why don't you hate vampires?"

"One saved my life once…" He said shaking his head while looking down at the ground. "A werewolf was chasing me, coming after me because I was trying to collect its hair for a friend of mine that was a witch named Luka. It had seen me right as was able to rip the hair out of his rump. I was going to die. I knew it. Then this brave vampire saw me and came running after me and didn't ask any questions, didn't say anything to me. He jumped in between us and wrestled the werewolf until he was able to snap its neck. It was after it was dead that I saw it. He had been bit."

"I…wow…"

"Yeah I know! This man had died because of me. Because I had been so stupid and we were supposed to hate each other. Unfortunately for vampires, they don't have the same instincts that werewolves and psychics do. He didn't know who I was exactly but, he saved me anyways. Now my waves of hate have died down towards them. They flare up sometimes and that's why Kat and I fight a lot but, I'll never hate one just because they are a vampire. Never."

"Why do you think I don't have that instinct and I don't hate them then?"

"I don't know…" He keeps his gaze on me long and hard right as Kat comes back with a smile on her face.

"The border is only two miles off and Locksley is twenty minutes south, vampire speed." She sighs, taking in the strange scene before her. "We should get there by tomorrow."

"Excellent," He says standing up and walking towards the direction that Kat told us. "because we don't have any camping supplies anymore…stupid muts."

Katherine shoots me a confused glance, eyeing me with a tell-me-everything-later type look. I nodded in response, silently giving her my word as we follow the only male in our group. He is looking on with far away eyes, looking at the path before him but not really seeing it. I can tell from his aura that his mind is on the events of the day he was saved by a vampire. Poor fella. To know for the rest of his life that a complete stranger suffered and died to save his sorry ass.

"Hey Katherine…" I ask looking from him to her as my mind races on the track of my own predicament. She looks over at me with a forlorn look in her eyes, a sadness and loss of life. My own emptiness creeps into my chest as I strain to remember my original question. "Ben and I had a small talk about psychics while you were gone today and while I learned a lot more than I already knew, there is something he didn't quite cover that I'm more than slightly curious about."

"I don't know all of too much about psychics but I know my fair share. Shoot."

"Vampires and werewolves live forever as long as nothing kills them and witches have prolonged life spans…what about psychics?"

"You guys live pretty much normal life spans, you die of old age. That's why you and the humans are so close, it's because-"

"—because they are the creature that is the closest to our own, I know. Ben told me that earlier."

"Well, sorry if the answer wasn't what you wanted to hear but, it's the truth."

"No, it's fine. I was only wondering. What about…transformation?"

"What do you mean?"

"STOP IT!" Ben bellows as he whirls around to face us with a livid look on his face. I wince back slightly, gripping onto Katherine's arm for support because I know that as long as I have Kat on my side he can't hurt me. "I will not just stand here and listen to you discuss you throwing your soul into the damnations of hell over some boy!"

"Excuse me?" I inquire, letting go of my solid support and stepping around her. "First of all, I wasn't talking to you so you can keep your opinions to yourself! Second off, who even _mentioned_ Damon? I didn't say his name and neither did Katherine so you have no reason to be throwing him into the mix. I was only being curious being that I was only just introduced into this world this year! I have the right to ask questions and ask any type of questions that I want to. If you would be so kind as to turn back around and continue to lead us into Georgia that would be lovely."

Ben opens his mouth with no words to be released from him. As he stands there I steps around him and keep on walking as if nothing has just happened. Katherine is at my side in under a second, an approving look on her face.

"You got moxy, Human. I like it."

"I don't." I hear Ben grumble from behind us. _Well, of course you wouldn't, being that you are a self-conceited jerk-off._

"What's his problem?" I question as Ben keeps his spot as the leader and marches through the woods with a purpose, knowing that we'll keep up with him.

"I have no clue…" Kat _says_ to me, but by the look of jealousy flaring in her eyes like wild fire, something tells me that she knows _exactly_ what I'm talking about. Meaning they are keeping stuff from me…again.


	4. Parro

"We're here…" I mutter in astonishment as I stand there in awe of it all. We have been traveling for days to get here and here we are. There is only one real problem…we have no clue where the house in my vision is. On top of that, I have no clue what the outside of this house looks like, which means more vision searching practice for me. Whoopee! I'm sure I'll enjoy the hours of enduring the pain just to figure out one miniscule piece of information that'll bring us one tiny step forward in the hunt to find Damon.

As the pain in my head waves throughout the space in between my ears, I feel a sense of hopelessness overcome myself. I am getting nothing at all that has anything to do with the warlock's home. It's mostly scenes of Mystic Falls. The Mystic grill dining's between my friends, Stefan and Elena's fights and make-ups, my mother talking to multiple different attractive men, and a few even of my father up north. I must be more homesick than I thought.

"EMMA!" I hear from somewhere out on the other side of, what sounds like, a glass wall. I shrug it off and keep clenching my mind to pry into visions of Georgia. It's not until something shoves me out of my trance that I realize that someone is trying to get my attention, out into the real world. I shoot up eyes menacingly up at Ben, my eyes probably as bloodshot as his. "I found it!"

"LET'S GO!" I cheer in excitement as I hop up, forgetting the pain I was experiencing not that long ago. "How long to we have from here?"

"Not far what-so-ever! It's a ten minute walk from the edge of the wood. Katherine has already run there and back to tell me how long we have."

The three of us quickly scamper out of the woods and into the city life. My eyes begin to feel the uncomfortable change of the light, into something much brighter. I've been traveling in a shaded forest for about a week and a half so, my vision isn't used to the brightness of real, unfiltered sunlight. It's as we approach the town, to receive disgusted looks, I realize that the three of us must look like hell. No shower, one change of clothes, and traveling in the woods where tree branches have torn at our hair. It's like an animal that you took out of its habitat to keep in captivity for a little while and then putting it back. A very surreal experience to say in the least.

"We should get cleaned up before we go to meet up with this warlock. I don't think he'll want to have an audience with us when we all look like this…" I look down at myself and noticing my greasy hair for the first time. I've never liked the feeling of being unwashed. It makes me feel just gross and I can barely stand it.

"Good thinking human." Katherine agrees, noticing a YMCA down the block. "Not much to our tastes, but it's a free public shower. Much less complicated because no one needs to be compelled and I don't have to be invited in because it's public."

"Let's just go, I just want to get washed!"

"What should we do?" Ben inquires as we stand at the warlock's door. "Just knock on the door and be like 'Oh, hello sir. This is Emma and I am Ben are both psychics and this is Katherine. She's a vampire. We need you to perform a spell or two for us. Also, could you be so obliged as to invite Kat into your home? That way she can sit in on our meeting.'"

"It's going to have to do." I sigh as I quickly rap my knuckles on the white door to the apartment we're stooped in front of. "Let me do the talking though Ben. My rendition of that may be a little less blunt…"

All goes silent as the door opens and standing before me is a short man, looking to be about forty-five years old. His skin is a rich mocha color and his eyes are an equally warm brown. He looks all three of us up and down with much skepticism, as if he is trying to decide if we are harmless or not. I look back at him with an innocent look in my eyes, that doesn't go unnoticed because his eyes linger on mine a little longer than everywhere else.

"Hello sir…my name is Emma, this is Ben, and Katherine. I think we're in need of your help." I say in a pleading tone and a sweet smile.

"Not interested, sorry." He grumbles in a low, husky voice. As if he had tired it out from screaming all day…or casting continual spells that is. It's right as he begins to slam the door in our faces that I shove my foot right in the door and get into his face, so that we are nearly nose to nose.

"We know you're a warlock and I had a vision of you and I sitting at your table talking. So I know that you are going to let us in and you are going to do it right this moment, sir." I whisper in a slightly threatening voice, not daring to waver my eyes away from the man's to check the expressions on my friends' faces. His eyes flicker an impressed approval before he slowly drags the door back open.

"My apologies please do come in…" He looks directly over at Katherine as he says this, as if he knew already that she is a vampire that needs this to be granted entrance. I sigh in relief right before stepping into the one room home. I hear the door shut behind me, telling me that the three of us are now shut into this room with a stranger. This would seem wild to me not that long ago, but now it seems like no big deal. "Emma, is it? My name is Parro. The only reason I acted that way at the door is that this group of people have been coming to me lately asking me to lift this shadow on a particular person. I've been refusing them of course. That person is probably shadowed for the sole reason to stay hidden from them."

"Parro…do you know the direct reason that they wanted this ban lifted? Did they tell you their intentions?"

"Curious girl, aren't you Emma?" Parro chuckles as he takes a seat at his table that I had seen in my vision. Hoping to fulfill the entirety of my vision, I follow in suit and take the seat across from him. "Please do tell, what are your reasons for seeking me out? It's not like I run an add in my paper, advertising my magical services to everyone."

"Actually sir…the thing is…we are here to ask you to lift the shadow on a person…"

"Really?" He leans in, reflecting a sense of strong intrigue emanating from his meaningful stare.

"Yes sir, a shadow that was placed on a man whom we are on a mission to rescue. His name is Damon-"

"Damon Salvatore?" Parro finishes with a white washed expression of someone who has just found themselves tangled into something that they do not wish to be caught in. "That is the very same man that group of relentless vampire hunters have been bugging me about lifting the shadow on. I think they have a psychic on their team, trying to search him out. Do not tell me that you are a part of this group or else I swear I am throwing you out right now."

"No! No sir, were actually from the…other side. Damon is a good friend of ours and we're on a search and rescue mission to find him and get him safely out of the reach of these vampire hunters. Please help us out sir. Then we were kind of hoping you could do a locating spell, so we can get to him before others."

"I…" He starts, looking from me to Ben to Katherine and back to me with a helpless look on his face. "I wish I could say yes but, my gut is telling me that I should stay out of this. I cannot help you, I refuse. If I help you then the Slayers will be at my neck in a Nano second. They keep tabs on every mystical creature in town, any that they find non-threatening, they let live with monitoring. I cannot risk myself like this."

"What?" Kat snaps and as I turn to face her, I can see her eyes going red at the edges and black veins sprouting from around the edge of her lids. "You have to help us! You're our only hope! Our only chance!"

"No." He states firmly, not flinching back from the display in front of him. I'm sure he's seen stuff like this happen before.

Kat then begins to go berserk! Driven by her new found anger and disappointment that we will not be receiving service here, she begins to punch and kick things around her in order to keep herself from attacking the warlock at any given moment. Ben peers over at me in wide-eyed horror and shock. Papers glide through the air, books begin to fly over our heads, chairs are flipped over, glass ornaments are shattered to the floor, and pretty soon his house is a shredded up mess that reminds me vaguely of what our campsite looked the morning after the attempted werewolf attack.

"_Katerina Petrova! _Look at me this instant!" I snarl in a reprimanding, mother-like voice that causes her to snap at attention with a treacherous glare and heavy breathing. "Get out of here! Now! Go and release your anger elsewhere!"

Then, she's gone. She was there a second ago but, then in a literal blink of an eye she wasn't.

"I deeply apologize for this! She's just upset because we've traveled for a little over a week from Mystical Falls, Virginia to find you based off a vision that I had."

"How are we going to find her again, Emma! We NEED her! _I_ need her!" Ben cries as he races towards the door with a pain painted over his handsome features. I try to use my telepathy to send an aura to him of one that I'll keep trying to bargain with Parro. Ben continues to stand in the doorway, watching me with hopeful eyes gleaming

"You came all the way to Locksley, Georgia to ask for my assistance?" Parro asks, looking at me with interested eyes, as if he wants to peel away my guard a little further and take a deeper look at me. That's it! That was my vision, I determine as I focus all my attention back on him and take a deep sigh.

"Yes sir and I am now pleading for you to please help us out. I know that it's a lot to ask for but, Parro…we have to find Damon…"

"Dear lord, how is this possible." Parro mutters as he shakes his head at me. I tilt my head slightly to the side as I hold our electric eye contact. "You're in love with him, aren't you Emma?" My mouth hangs agape slightly from the shock. He was able to tell from this petty little exchange. "I can tell from the look in your eyes but,…you're supposed to despise vampires all together."

"I know it's odd, Ben and I have already covered that." I sigh as I look down at my fiddling hands on the table. My breath begins to become slightly shaky as I begin to imagine Damon cornered in the woods and being shot with a cross bow that's loaded with wooden stakes. I openly cringe at the thought of it and look back up at Parro.

"I…don't think I have a choice then. I have to help you."

"Y-you do?" Ben asks, his voice dripping in a voice of someone who has been completely floored.

"I do. My wife…she was a werewolf…they kidnapped her and…there hasn't been a day that's gone by when I don't wonder why I didn't act sooner, tried harder to save her. I had the talents available to find her and…I was frightened. I still wonder if she's even still alive today. If there was someone there to help me out during that time, things might have turned out differently."

"Oh THANK YOU!" I gush as I sigh in total relief. "Ben, go find Kat and calm her down. I think I'll be perfectly fine here with Parro."

Just like that, I'm left alone with this guy.

"How did you know about locating spells?" He asks over his shoulder as he walks over to get a spell book from the furthest shelf. I then have to explain to him about how back when I had first learned that I was a psychic, I was getting lessons from a witch. She had a knack for locating spells, she had used one to save me after all, and so I knew that they existed and how they worked. I took a bloody napkin out of my pocket and handed to him. I wiped my mouth off with it one of the times that Damon forced me to drink his blood. It had been in the bottom of my purse for the longest time. It was lucky that I still had it. "This is what I am using for locating Damon?"

"Yes sir, you probably have to lift the shadow first though, right?"

"You're a very smart and clever girl Emma. Be careful."

"Be careful?" I question him as he begins to look up the spell to lifting shadows.

"The Slayers are a group of supernatural hunters that do not care what creature you are but, if you're on the opposing side and you're clever enough, they'll do yah in in the blink of an eye because that way they know you won't be in their way anymore. Just be careful."

"Don't worry about me sir. I've been through hell and back this summer. That girl that I'm traveling with…"

"The one that took the liberty to tear my apartment to shreds?"

"Yeah, she locked me in a basement for over a week, stole my boyfriend, and tried to kill me. Yet, here we are, months later being friends and allies. I think I can handle myself."

"Most certainly…you are rather impressive, if you don't mind my saying. What about that Ben guy…the other psychic? Is it killing him?"

"Is what killing him?" I inquire, worry striking me through hard and strong. Is there something that I don't know about him?

"The psychic attraction…he's had to have shown some sign of restrain or jealousy that you love a vampire…"

"I don't th-" I was going to say _I don't think so. Why are you asking? Shouldn't you be more interested in finding the spell!_ But then I realized that he _had_ shown multiple signs that the psychic pull has affected him to the extent of speaking up about it. I personally hadn't felt that pull but he definitely had. "…actually, yeah…"

"Now _that_…" He states while looking down at his grimoire, at the page with the spell on it. ", that has to be hell." I don't say anything back to him, only let those words hang in the air, their meaning cutting deeper than I had thought they would. "Okay, I'm going to do the spell now so, I have to concentrate." I nod my head and just watch as he closes his eyes and begins to mutter unintelligible words under his breath. After nothing happens his gaze lifts to meet my own. "It is done." I feel myself become uneasy because nothing seemed to have happened. No flash of light, no gust of wind, nothing. The worry is quickly swept from my head as Parro leaves the table momentarily to retrieve a map of Georgia and a map of Locksley, just in case. He takes his seat once more, unfolding the maps right next to each other. Then, without a word he just closes his eyes and continues that grumbling gibberish that he had done before, only it's discernable that the words are different than before.

I gasp as a thin, trembling line of light begins to roam over the map on the table in front of us. The light stops at Locksley and begins to waver, deciding which direction the light should go in town. Eventually the line stops moving all together, hovering over the same spot in the woods.

"There he is." Parro says in a tired voice, allowing me time to right down the location before losing the connection with the spell and the light vanishes and the maps are just lying there as if nothing had ever happened.

"Thank you so much Parro! I hope you realize how big of a help you've been!"

"I do. Go get him, before it's too late."

I jump up, smiling at him, and I do as he says. I fly out of the apartment and down the stairs, willing to run to the address if I have to.

"Emma! Did he find him?" I hear Ben's voice once I hit the side walk of the street. I open my mouth to answer him but, nothing comes out as I am hit with the hardest, most vivid vision I've had yet.


	5. Realizations in Reuinions

I can't move, I can't breathe, I can't speak.

He's right there in front of my very eyes and I'm just frozen in petrified longing. How can he just lay there in the array of dried leaves, deep in thought, and still look so perfect? I noticed that Kat seems to hold that same quality. It must be a vampire thing. He's so still, like an immobile statue, that for a short moment I almost believe that he is dead. A quick sigh of contentment relieves that fear quickly however and I just continue to stare in shock.

A slight wave of resentment washes over me from his action. He sighed in CONTENTMENT? All of this work and he seems perfectly fine, not a care in the world! He should be in distress, injured, trapped, afraid, SOMETHING other than what he is at this moment.

"Damon…" I say in a quivering voice, I want so badly for him to hear me for me to be able to show up in front of him because my yearning for him is aching in my bones. My mind scrambles as I listen to my voice echoing in an odd manor that has never happened before while having a vision. Normally it sounds normal, as if I were actually in the scene, only no one can really hear me or see me. Not this time though, maybe it's just the atmosphere of the forest. Perhaps it's just a much more echo-inducing place.

Except something happens that I'm not prepared for…

Damon's previously shut eyes dart open, and as he sits up I can feel his piercing gaze in my direction. His blue eyes strike me hard and I'm glad he can't see me because I may have just liquefied into pudding at the very sight of those beautiful orbs. He keeps looking around with his guard up, as if he's ready to pounce on anything that's yet to come his way.

"Who's there?" His silky yet still somehow husky voice calls out into the trees surrounding him. I stare at him confusedly as he continues to race around the perimeter of the place he was in the leaves, in a hunt to find something. "I know you're there! I heard you!"

It suddenly strikes me, like a mallet to an iron church bell. _He heard me!_

"Damon…can you hear me?" I question aloud and I listen with intrigue as my voice echoes again, as it had the first time.

"Yes I can hear you! What are you, an idiot?" Damon spits back in a grouchy, irritated tone. I gasp and I can't speak for a moment or two. Time ticks by and Damon continues to glare off into space, not sure where this unknown voice is coming from.

"Where are you?" I burst in a quick rush of words as desperation to be able to hug him over comes my senses. It doesn't matter any longer all of the hard work, all the suffering, all the pain, all the nights I spent lying awake just staring at the ceiling of the tent. It'll all be worth it once I get into his arms, once I can taste those sweet lips of his, once I can get the chance to listen to his side of the story.

"Who do you think you are? My mother? Show yourself! Who are you?" The snappy comebacks and questions come pouring out of his mouth like a water fall as he whips around, looking for a body. He feels threatened.

"Damon…it's me…" I start as I feel a tear glisten at the edge of my eye. I fight to hold it in and stay strong because I just need to be, I have no other choice. His face scrunches up at the beginning of my sentence, confusion clearly written all over his face. "…it's Emma…"

Suddenly his expression relaxes and drops into his own version of surprise. Now he really begins circling the premises for the source of the voice, true desperation evident in his pace and jittery movements.

"You can't see me because I am talking to you through a vision…"

"A vis—what are you talking about? Em, what's going on?"

"It's okay Damon, I found out after you left that I'm a psychic…but that's not important right now-"

"Not important? Are you nuts? You're not human?"

"Damon, what's important right now is for you to tell me where you are so we can find you."

"Fine…" He sighs, looking as though he isn't going to let go of the fact that I just shared with him. "I'm in the middle of the woods behind the town of Locksley. It's in Georgia Emma, it'll take at least a day to get here and by then I might have to leave. I'm being tracked…you don't understand my situation…"

"But I do. We'll be there soon, give us about a half hour."

"Half hour?"

"Did I forget to mention we're in Locksley right now…"

"How did you know where to go?"

"Never mind that, I'll fill you in when we're get there."

"Who's we?"

"You'll see!"

"But Emma-"

I don't stay to listen to him argue with me, I force myself to let go of the vision even though I don't want to. I want to just stay there, fill him in on the past three or four months of my life and would he do the same. I want to just talk to him forever and ever and never stop. I want to be with him in any way that I can. But the thought, that if I let go then I can actually see him in person, I can actually feel him and know that he can see me, that pushes my strength a little further.

"Emma? Emma are you okay?" I hear a new male voice that isn't the one I desire presently. Ben comes into focus as I slowly flutter my eyes open, exhausted from the experience I just endured. "Emma…you had a vision of Damon didn't you?" He doesn't even pause long enough for me to respond with a yes. "You were able to talk to him weren't you?" Excitement rises up into his eyes, all worry washed away because he seems to already know the answer to his own question.

"Yeah…"

"You were mumbling your half of the conversation while having your vision…" Katherine announces helping me up, I wobble around slightly from my lack of energy but keep myself stable enough to refrain from falling over. "That's not something newly trained psychics can normally accomplish…"

"I know…" Ben trails, a mix of jealousy and admiration shining out of his eyes. His gaze causes me to grow nervous and I look away to spot the woods not far off from where we are located, which is behind a building that Kat must have carried me to while I was having my vision.

"As much as I would love to relish at my quick progress and impressive accomplishments, Damon's in the center of those woods and we have to get there now!" I point at the woods splaying out in front of us with certainty. "Kat, let me on your back and we can get there quickly. You can come back and get Ben afterwards."

Ben scowls and folds his arms across his chest and shouts : "Why do I have to wait behind?"

Right at the exact same time that Katherine places her hands on her hips and rolls her eyes, exclaiming: "What do you think this is? Some twisted lesbian version of Twilight?"

"Guys!" I growl, the feeling of disappointed anger rolling through my being. "We've traveled too far, too long, and too hard to act like this now! You were going to come without me if I said no to tagging along, I remember! Now that we've finally reached our destination you both want to prolong our mission? This was supposed to be a search and rescue and now for some reason you're all about search and to hell with the rescue? Well then FINE! I'll be MORE than willing to go searching for Damon BY MYSELF!"

The snarl in my voice even surprises me as silence hangs in the air that follows. Kat turns around automatically, her actions careful and full of newfound respect, and crouches down so I can hop on. Ben says nothing as she takes off zooming through the forest. The trees fizzing by in a blur of green.

"Do you see him?" I ask her as we continue to wiz passed the wildlife of the forest. Kat shakes her head and keeps her eye out as I spot something she might not have, a black silhouette standing twenty feet to the left of us. "KAT! STOP!"

We stop on a dime.

"Emma?" His voice rings through the air. I fight my way off of Katherine's back and rush forward towards the figure that I can't quite see well just yet.

Then he steps forward into a veil of light filtering through the tree branches that loom high above our heads. His raven waves, his sky blue pools, his masculine build, his perfect lips it all is revealed to me. Within my touch.

"Damon…" I cry feeling those tears I held back before stream over my cheeks.

I race into his arms, feeling them cascade around me and bracing me tightly to his chest. A warm glow illuminates in the pit of my stomach as his shirt soaks up my tears. Nothing in the world could ever top this feeling of acceptance after spending so long feeling ejected from my life. I breathe in the familiar sent of Damon, even after months away from home he still smells like his house mixed with that alluring natural musk. I tilt my head up to finally crash my lips on top of those which belong to but get put off. Damon's glaring out at something.

"What is this _thing_ doing here?" He seethes, tucking me in closer to his chest. Katherine and Ben are both standing by the nearest tree watching us. Katherine looking bored and Ben looking pissed off.

"She…um, she helped me find you…" I murmur in a quiet voice, knowing very well that he isn't going to like the fact that I've teamed up with his worst enemy.

"Emma, let me get this straight, you've been w_orking_ with this psycho? She tried to _kill you_ if you don't remember!"

"I know but…"

"And who is this guy?" Over protective jealousy shines brightly in Damon's tone.

"This is Ben, he's another psychic that has been training me…"

"He's a psychic?" Damon glances at Katherine, a knowing looking on his face. She looks from him, to me, to Ben with a helpless look stuck on her face. He must be questioning her about the connection that my kind are supposed to have together.

"Why don't we leave the love birds alone to talk…" Katherine says, grabbing Ben's arm and firmly dragging him away before he can cause any trouble.

The moment they are out of our sight, I turn and glare up at Damon and I can assure you that the look is well returned. How can he not understand that I had to team up with them because the situation required it and it was to save his sorry ass! His look is the glare of a person that has been betrayed. As hold the stare as does he, neither of us backing down. Both of us are a stubborn as a mule, both wanting to forgive the other already, both of us not wanting to be the first, and I'll be damned if I'm the first. He reads that glint of competition in my eyes and fights back the playful smirk that lights of his entire face. He knows all too well that at the slightest smile I'll crumble under the pressure.

"I just got you back, we shouldn't be fighting." He slurs in a sarcastic tone with a charming smile. I try my best to fight it but before I can tense my scowl, I'm already smiling back up at him. Suddenly I feel a pair of soft smooth lips over the top of mine. My heart swells to the height of a symphony and I could spend forever just kissing him.

But, I shouldn't be doing this. What happened to being strong and independent? He _hurt_ me in the worst way possible! I had vowed to myself that no matter how much I'm still in love with him, I would not take him back without making him work for it. I'm disgusted with the way that my lips are just melting into his.

So, I place my hands on his chest and push him back with all my might. I feel his hands fall on the bottom of my waist, close to my butt and brace me in. I sigh and look down quickly before staring up into his confused looking eyes.

"How can you think that this makes everything okay?" I inquire with a gently harsh tone of speaking. He doesn't answer, just keeps on watching my face like I'm some interesting movie. Like he can't wait to see what I'll do next. "We haven't seen each other for months-"

"Don't give up on us…"

"_YOU_ GAVE UP ON _ME_!" I shudder out of his touch, unable to withstand this conversation. Not yet. Not now.

"Emma…"

"Just, let's be friends." I sigh, knowing already that I'm going to have trouble doing this.

"But I love-"

"Please don't…"

"But I-"

"Just _DON'T_."

I jump away from his touch, watching as his hands drop to his sides. "Let's just go get Kat and Ben and go home. We can figure out what to do when we get back to Mystic Falls. You've driven me away from my home long enough." I turn on my heel and strut away from him, trying to ignore the way my knees are wobbling. I hope I didn't just make a dire mistake.

I see Ben standing with his back pressed up against a tree, holding his breath.

"Ben…Ben what's the matter?" I ask rushing forward a little quicker than before.

"Emma, SH!" He whisper-shouts, pointing to the tree next to his and presses his finger to his lips. I follow in suite as does Damon, sneaking a peek over my shoulder at what we're hiding from.

It's a large camp of tents and people, bustling all around working, and devising. I don't even have to ask to know that this is the Slayers. Based off of the look on Damon's face, I'm right.


	6. a Reeve's Psychic

Before I have the chance to react to how I feel about being this close to our enemy and the possible downfall of each of us, I am being flung through the woods at top speed. I gasp and feel the wind be knocked out of me, the trees whirling past me as a mesh of green. I try to look around to figure out who's causing me to move this fast and all I see is a nice ass.

"DAMON! PUT ME DOWN!" I scream on the top of my lungs, as my mind catches up to my body. All that this does is make Damon hold on tighter, for the fear that I'll begin to fight him. I give up and let him carry me away to wherever we're going, I look to the side and see that Ben is on Kat's back and are cruising right next to us. It's kind of weird to see Ben on the back of a girl… he notices this and flips me off with a teasing smirk.

As odd as it feels to be flipped off, I throw my head back and laugh out loud at it just because I've seen so many terrible things and I can't help but remember a time when seeing the birdie was one of the worst things. It used to offend me, set me off of the rails. Too much of my innocence is gone now for silly things such as that.

"I think it's safe to stop now." Kat says and we stop moving. I scramble down from the awkward positioning of Damon, trying to not let him help me. I want no reason for him to believe that I have a soft spot for him still, despite the fact that it is present. "That was close…"

"Guys, I think that I should go back there…" I announce, only to receive the most glares of confusion I think I've ever gotten at one time before. I look over at Ben first, knowing that he's the weakest to my charms out of the group of them. I try to send him a message of what my plan is. He appears to receive my idea and perks up a little bit and nods his head.

"Are you insane?" Damon bursts without any reservation, anger spread evenly over his face. "Those people want to kill us and you want to go back there _alone_!"

"Let her go." Ben pleads my case the best he can without disclosing the information.

"You can shut up!" Damon snaps at Ben, his vampire face crackling under his eyes. He's losing control… I take this chance to begin to go back towards the camp we had stumbled upon not that long ago. I don't make it ten feet away before Damon is in front of me once more, barricading my path. His face looks lethal as he glares at me in confusion. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I have a plan Damon! Don't be so over protective, I can do this!" I puff out my chest and announce, through with letting him push me around so easily. I am a strong woman and he will give me the respect that I desire. He is not dominant over me, whatever he may think. His eyes show the fear that if he lets me go that it may be the last time he will ever see me. "Just let me go…please…" I drop my voice to a softer tone, hoping that may have a different effect.

"I can't…I just…I can't lose you…not again…"

"You don't get to make that decision anymore Damon. You lost any say in what I do when you abandoned me, unconscious, in a vacant basement. You didn't make any effort to contact me, you just disappeared. You cannot expect to have any power over me now, let me go." My tone becomes harsh and I watch him flinch at each sharp word. He tries to mask his pain from my speech with anger but I know better.

"I won't let you go." He reaches over and grips my arm to keep me from moving. The moment that his hand makes contact I feel myself explode from the anger, HOW DARE HE! I smack him as hard as I can with my free hand, leaving a nice pink handprint on his cheek. He stares down at me frozen in shock that I just hit him, his eyes flashing back and forth between normal and red. He's fighting to keep control and losing.

"Let go of me right now or God so help me!" I growl, ripping my arm from his loosened grip. "Go home Damon! I can take care of myself now, I don't need your assistance. We'll talk about this if and when I get home."

"If." He scoffs as he runs his hand through his hair. This is hard for him, I can tell. I try to soften up a little as I walk over to Ben and give him a hug.

"Thank you so much for everything that you've taught me." I mutter into his ear, feeling Damon bore his evil glare into my back from the rabid jealousy coursing through him.

"I've…I've barely even gotten started…" Ben mumbles bashfully, trying to avoid the scrutinizing stare of Damon. "Come home and I'll finish teaching yah." I smile at him and nod, hoping that my plan will work, and I'll have the chance to actually learn the rest of the tricks that I'm capable of. Next I approach Katherine who is staring at me with a veil of indifference. I ignore the façade and hug her tightly, knowing that even though she's not hugging back, she wants to.

"It's hard to believe that I used to hate you…" I admit, pulling out of the hug and staring her directly in the eyes. She stares back, desperately trying to hold her emotions back because I can tell that she's fighting tears. "Katherine…thank you."

"Be careful Emma, I don't know what life would be like without you there to keep things interesting."

"You…you called me Emma…" I point out in astonishment. She's _never_ called me anything but human from the moment she met me and hearing her call me something else feels gratifying. She shrugs it off like no big deal, holding back as usual.

"Emma…don't do this." Damon seethes between his teeth as I pass him, without a glance nor word in his direction. After getting a few steps away from them I whirl around to give them their only directions. "Kat, Ben, make sure Damon gets home safe and sound. I would hate for everything I'm doing to be a waste."

"Emma…" Damon calls out, grabbing my wrist again only this time with more gentility than last time. He really doesn't want me to go, does he? I look up into his beautiful ocean eyes, praying that I have the strength to stand against him still. "Emma." He states my name again in a soft whisper, tears welling up in his eyes. "I'm so sorry. About everything, about turning my back on you in the vacation house, for feeding off of you, for abandoning you when you needed me the most, for expecting to be welcomed back with open arms, for e_verything_. I'm just sorry." His words cradled in sincerity, I feel it in my gut that he's not just saying it to get me to stay, he really means it. I feel like I've just been punched in the stomach as I look up into the face of the man I loved. Of the man that I still do love. Of the man I will most honestly love forever.

"No Damon, I'm sorry." I respond and that's all I give him because at that moment I turn on my heels and walk away from the three of them, to my possible death for all that I know. I chose that moment and those words because a second longer and I would have caved into his whim and gone home with him but, not yet. There is just one last thing I need to do in order to confirm our security.

I'm walking directly into the belly of the beast.

It doesn't take me long to stumble upon the camp once again, to my great surprise. We must not have gone as far away as I had originally believed. The tents are much nicer than anything that we had on our trekking mission. All of their equipment looks nice and well taken care of, as do the people and I'm pushed into further surprise. The people that we've been running from look like baby sitters, kind next door neighbors, or school teachers. This entire time I've been picturing ruthless and mean people who wear leather jackets and have five o'clock shadow. One of the women is wearing a baby pink cardigan for crying out loud! Not ANYWHERE near what I was expecting.

"Halt your work!" A man's voice comes from a tall crimson tent in the center of the camp. As if they were on a remote control, every person drops what they're doing and faces the tent. In every direction they stand, waiting for command. Then I know that this man must be the leader of their group. This must be the man that used to be second in command before Damon killed their last leader. This is the man that is after Damon.

As if I was just hit by a bus my whole body suddenly jolts in pain. My limbs feel as though they are being torn off of my body as I flop to the ground, trying to control my flailing limbs. I try to center my thoughts and use my psychic energies to blockade their effect on me. I do not doubt for a second that they either saw me coming or sensed me coming, they are an army of powerful psychics after all. I squirm under their control and through the haze of the ringing in the ears I hear the rushed foot falls over crunching leaves as the clan surrounds my agonized body.

"Who is she?" A far away voice of a woman questions aloud.

There is a deafening silence that follows until another voice chimes, "I can't get into her head…"

I feel someone push my shoulder over so that I'm facing up towards them, I can barely keep my vision straight as I continue to work to grasp onto something inside of myself. I'm not sure what I'm reaching for but it just seems instinctual to do so. I see a tall, twenty-something handsome man with more of the look I was expecting suddenly lean over the top of my sprawled body and peering down at me with a curious and defensive gaze.

"She's a Reeves psychic…" The man's deep husky voice trails in astonishment. "Put her out…" He says in a shaky voice, walking away from me. I find the strength to follow him with my eyes as he walks away, he stops and looks over his shoulder, down at me then back at the crowd of people. "If you can that is…" An amused smirk reaches his lips, reminding me of certain person's own signature smirk. No one's can beat Damon's, not even this guy.

Something strikes the top of my head and that is the last thing I think of before I go out.

In all of the movies when a person begins to come to its slow and things blur in and out little by little before they are conscious enough to respond to people beckoning to them. I've gone through it before, I know how it feels, it's extremely frustrating to start. Not this time though. One second I'm out cold, nothing there but an infinite darkness and suddenly, I'm sitting up erect and huffing in and out rapidly as if I had just ran a mile.

"Ms. Reeves…are you alright?" A gentle voice coos next to me with the gentleness of a birdsong. I dart my eyes over to her frantically as I begin to catch my breath once more. The girl looks a few years younger than myself, her red hair cascading over her shoulders, and her green eyes glimmering at me as if she were looking at a hero or a famous person. I cough out a few times to make sure I am before I nod back at her, checking myself back over.

I'm on a cot with linens clinging to a crappy mattress. There is nothing restraining me and if anything, it looks as if I was taken very good care of while I was knocked out. Relief washes over me as I realize more and more that I was not killed on the spot by the Slayers. Something seems odd though, but I can't put my finger on it…

"If you're okay then you must go and visit Mr. Till…" The girl soothes, placing a freckly hand on my shoulder and helping me to stand. "Sorry that we had to knock you out…it was a safety issue I promise." I don't say anything, I just stare down at her a little more than confused by all of this. The little girl doesn't seem fazed by my odd behavior and keeps leading my along through the camp, towards the big red tent that caught my eye when I first laid my eyes on the camp. She pulls aside the tent door flap and leads me inside. The man that I saw before passing out is sitting at a small desk in the far corner of the small area, writing something down. "Mr. Till…"

The man at the table lifts his gaze up to the two of us and his mouth opens with a wordless welcome. He nods his head and tells her to leave, requesting to be left alone with me at this moment.

"Do you _know_ who you are?" The man asks, packing his papers up and approaching me. I don't answer him because I'm so confused. Of course I know who I am…that's an odd question…but there is something else that has been bothering me ever since I got myself stuck here.

"Of course I do…a better question is how do you know?"

"Emma, Emma, Emma…" The man laughs while pacing in front of me, like a lion taunting his prey. "I'm not dim, I realize that you know your name and parsonage. What I was inquiring was if you realize how powerful you are and can be?"

"Yes." I seethe, an uncomfortable air hangs around me as I stare this man down. He has short dark hair, including the dark stubble that coats his chin and upper lip. His eyes are light golden brown, almost like the color of dirty blond hair. It looks slightly odd, the two clashing shades but, it makes him intriguing to look at. There is a visible tattoo rung around his wrist, it looks like barbed wire.

"Do you?" He asks again, beginning to circle me with a sinister grin that sets my teeth on edge. "Emma Reeves, I personally believe that you are clueless because if you had even an inkling than you would not be concealing it from me. You would know precisely what I am talking about and you would be proud of it because with that knowledge, you have the upper hand."

"What are you talking about?" My breath hitches in my throat as I stare at the man before me, his last name being Till if I recall correctly. It also is freaking me out to no end how he seems to know more about me than I know about myself. Does he know that I am across enemy lines right now, trying to do what I think is best for me and for everyone? The way he's stalking around me like I'm some sort of ritual fire is frightening. "Of course, why should you tell me? As you said, my knowledge of whatever it is would give me the upper hand. Why would you want to help me in any sort of way?"

"You mistake me Emma. I am not trying to kill you, we are not enemies but allies. You are the very staple of myself and every other psychic that walks the present earth."

"Excuse me?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but it is true." The man begins walking backwards towards the desk he was bent over when I came in. "Do you know about the originals?"

"Of course I do Till!" I call him only by his last name, being that is all I know. I keep my voice harsh, reminding him that even though he claims to be a friend that I am not foolish enough to put my trust into the hands of a complete stranger. "They are the families that were originally cursed into our beings. Vampires, werewolves, witches, and psychics. Don't think that I would not read up on the history of my own people, no matter how little time I've known of it. Of course, you know that I'm barely trained. Don't you?" Intense eyes stare at each other as we face one another. The looks couldn't necessarily be called glares because there is not hate behind them, only resent.

"You don't know the name of the original Psychic, do you?"

"No…" I sheepishly admit, realizing that I've just had my own snarking words spit back at me.

"Her name was Alexandria Reeves."

My head begins to spin and my heart pounds even harder than ever. I try to take a deep breath and relax at this new nugget of information. The room begins to sway like the heat that waves off of a flame, heating the tent to a fever pitch, and distorting my vision. "You mean to say that I am an original psychic?"

"Don't get too conceited, you're _related_ to her, there's a difference. You're not as powerful as she was but you have power that the average psychic could only dream of. You had no idea of course, being that you father never told you about your genetic relic."

"My father knew?" My head shoots up and I stare at Till with glimmering eyes. "He knew that I was to become a psychic when I got older?"

"Knew? He's one himself. He thought that divorcing your mother would save you from this world, he was wrong. It's in your nature to be attracted to the supernatural, it was only a matter of time before nature would take its course. Most psychics can avoid their powers if desired. For you that is nearly impossible, you are too powerful, too different to whisk away your powers."

"You mean to say that he still loves my mom?"

"Probably always will but he cares too much for you to let that get in the way."

"You talk as if you know him."

"Knew him, actually. He was a member of the Slayers, in secret of course. Your mother never knew about your powers or his. That all changed when you were born. He began questioning our motives and he ran away, haven't seen him since."

Not thinking that I can take any more surprises, I start for the door. I was wrong to come here, I should have kept my distance, it's not safe for me here, and it's not safe for me anywhere. I reach for the cloth flap of the tent when I feel an iron hand clasp over my shoulder, holding me back. I look up into the strange eyes of this man that I call Till.

"Who are you?" I find myself asking before I can stop.

"Zechariah Till, nice to meet you."

"I wish I could say the same." I gasp.

"This is your tent. Mine is the black one right next door. Welcome to headquarters Emma, your initiation will be at dawn."

"Initiation?"

"Of course, you're one of us now. It's always destined to be this way." Zech smiles at me before he ducks out of the tent, leaving me with my own thoughts.

What have I gotten myself into?

**Hey, is ANYONE reading this? I'm just curious because hell if I'd know because no one is reviewing. I know that I should be doing this for myself, which I am don't mistake me, but I will not post another chapter until I get at least two reviews per chapter. Alright…the story line is really heating up isn't it? :D**


	7. Barbed Wire

I stare at the ring around my wrist in shock. How did this happen? Right around my left wrist is the same black barbed wire that circles Zech's wrist and after noticing his I noticed it was around everyone's wrist. It's the mark of the slayers. Now I'm forever branded one of them, and I don't even want to be. I showed up here to send them in the wrong direction, to have them kill me for being a traitor, and then rush off the wrong way after Damon. Not to become one of them.

"Ms. Reeves, are you okay?" The little girl who took care of me last night when I arrived here questions, walking over to my place at my desk. She looks at me the way a boy looks upon superman as a child. The way a little girl looks upon Cinderella. The way a person who hasn't been exposed to the evils of our world looks upon their hero. "I know I'm only twelve and may seem a little naïve but, you look distressed."

"It's nothing Jenny…" I mutter while rubbing the sore skin around my new marking. I have to keep up a charade that I'm happy to be here; otherwise they'll figure me out. "I'm just worried about today…"

"You'll do great; you're the most powerful psychic in the world! Everyone is nervous before their first hunt! Once you accomplish it, you'll feel like one of us! Instinct kicks in and your hate will drive your powers." She reassures me with a small smile while she apprehensively twirls a piece of her long red hair around her finger.

"Not Emma, Jennifer." The rough voice of Zech calls through the tent, catching the both of us off guard. We both whirl around to face him and Jenny bows like he's her king or something, I just stand in alarm. When did he get there? "She's related to the original bloodline. The Reeve's psychics do not possess the same hate that is embedded into our nature. No one's sure why, many legends say that it was because Alexandria fell for a vampire. Of course, it raised a lot of chaos since she was married to someone before the gift of divination, that's where the Reeve's name came from. Her maiden name was Alexandria Forte and she was arranged into a loveless marriage with Peter Reeves. They were married three years before she became the world's first psychic."

"I like her last name better than her married name." Jenny says with a glimmer of admiration in her eye. "It's French for strong."

"You're a smart girl Jennifer, your parents must be proud." Zech praises the girl before sending her off to do something other than "bother me" as he puts it. "Did you enjoy the story of your predecessors? There are many more that involve Alexandria…"

"Yes, she seemed like a wise young woman…" I mutter, looking in the mirror but failing to see myself. My eyes are stuck seeing the look on Damon's face when I told him that I was leaving. "…except the part where she fell for a vampire. Now that was foolish!" I add to the end, keeping the suspicions of me deterred. He agrees with me, walking across the tent, towards me and making me extremely nervous. The look on his face scares me, it's like he's looking at something that he would like to build and destroy at the same time.

"Indeed, no need to harp on her downfall though…"

"Her downfall? What do you mean?"

"That vampire that she risked everything for killed her. That is why our kind has that hate embedded into us. Vampires are wicked creatures, never trust a vampire Emma. They are the greatest pretenders of all, they can make you believe that they are worth believing in but they are not."

"Of course, I'm not stupid." I smirk, looking dimly down at my marking again. Zech watches me watch the marks, as if the longer I stare the less real their presence will become.

"You didn't seem completely with it last night, while we were initiating you into our pack. You did everything correctly, don't get me wrong but…you aren't as good an actress as you think you are. You looked surreal up there, like your body was there but not your mind. The rest of the pack was fooled of course but, you cannot fool me."

A ringing starts in my ears as he continues to creep up towards me. I feel listless as I begin searching for somewhere to look besides his accusatory face and I dare not speak a word, for the fear that my lies will show through my protests. Maybe it's best to just admit the truth and accept my punishment.

"You are struck dumb from the news about your father, aren't you?" He asks in a gentler voice than I expected. My head snaps up, trying to make sure that I heard him correctly. Just when I thought I was caught…I try not to find amusement in this situation but, how can I not? I suppress my urge to laugh and just stare at him, holding my worry filled gaze. "You've been thinking about what I told you your father believes of our clan but, let me assure you that he's mistaken. These creatures that we hunt do nothing but destroy the people around them; they care nothing of anything but themselves. Innocent people die daily at their hands and it is our job to stop them. Vampires, werewolves, and the occasional witch gone awry, they all live to murder us and humans!"

"You're right…" I tremble out, tears in my eyes. How can he speak so harshly of these people as creatures? They have personalities and not all of them are evil! "I can see what my father did not have the strength to."

"Good, I hope your mind is at ease now."

"Not yet," I suck up my over-baring emotions and plaster a fake smile onto my face. "I have a werewolf to hunt." He smiles at my reaction and slaps me on the back like an army buddy.

"That's what I'm talking about! Go get him!"

I smile at him and rush out of my tent, darting for the woods in a panic. Each breath in and out hurting more than the last, I know I have to come back because if I don't they'll find me. They ARE a group of highly skilled, well trained psychics after all. At least this task I'm supposed to fulfill must be done alone so that I can have a little time to freak out a little bit. Do you blame me? Everything's been happening so quickly and I've barely had time to catch my breath. Every second I have to be paranoid that they're going to figure out that I'm not all that they think I am. I'll never be loyal to them, any of them. Their all twisted and brain washed from the hate that blinds them from the truth.

A person commits murder. That doesn't make every person in the world a murderer.

A man cheats on his wife. Not all men are cheaters.

A vampire thinks only for his or herself. Not all vampires are selfish predators.

I get a certain distance away from the camp, where I know that no one will see me or hear me. I collapse onto the ground and begin to cry my eyes out. My frustration is let out as I begin to bang my fists over the dew-covered dead leaves that crunch and crumble under my blows. An owl that was perched in a nearby tree flees the scene, annoyed by the disturbance of his peace. I have no clue what I am going to do. I can't pretend I'm one of them for the rest of my life! I've only been here a day and I'm already suffocated in my lies and acts. I need to devise a plan but I don't know what. I slam my eyes shut, trying to calm down enough to go and find a werewolf to hunt and report back to Zech.

"Emma…are you okay?" A voice that I did not expect to hear, echoes in my pitch black darkness. I dart my eyes open and look down at the familiar feet that I love.

"Damon…" I whisper, looking up into his eyes. He's standing there, staring at me in distress while Ben stands a few feet behind him with his arms crossed like a pouty little boy. Damon obviously bribed, threatened, or compelled him to help him contact me through a vision. "What are you doing here? It's not safe, there is a huge camp of very powerful psychics not that far off that could intercept our vision!"

"You can't intercept visions Emma." Ben informs me with an annoyed shake of his head. "Make this quick Damon."

"It's true then," Damon states, pointing out the fresh tattoo surrounded my irritated skin on my wrist. "Ben's vision of you joining forces with them. You never told me why you wanted to go back, now I know why." Anger quickly begins to rise into his voice as he speaks and it causes my head to spin in distress, he's got this all wrong! "Learning the stock of your trade is so important to you that you'd resort to THIS?" He reaches out and holds my marked wrist at both of our eye levels. "You've sold yourself over to them and it won't be long until you ARE one of them. Who knows? Maybe you already are! Do you really mean this little to yourself? I know that you've been depressed on the trip, Kat and Ben told me everything but, you do not deserve to throw yourself into this CULT of arrogant killers!"

I try to fight back the new tears but being that I had already started crying over being stuck here, the tears flow over my cheeks without restraint of any kind. His words came out with such hate that it's hard to believe that he's supposed to be on my side. Zech's never even spoken to me like this before and he's supposed to be the bad guy in this situation.

"I-I…I-I didn't have any choice Damon…" I mumble through my tears, knowing that he can hear me just fine since he's a vampire. "They forced me, they are holding me captive and I have to pretend I'm on their side so that they don't kill me. The only way to get them to stop hurting me was to let them stamp me as one of their own and make them believe that they can trust me. I just wanted to tell them that you'd fled the country so that they'd start searching for you on the other side of the world but…some things have complicated the deal and I can't get out of this. And Damon…" I wait for his eyes to soften against my gaze, "…I'm scared."

Suddenly, all I see his black and for a second I panic again, thinking that I've lost my vision. Except my arms begin to tingle under the touch of something else; Damon's body against mine. I hug him back, clinging to him for dear life and letting myself cry into his black v-neck. His hand runs up and down the curve of my back, causing the skin there to heat up with goose bumps.

"It's okay, you'll be okay. I won't anything happen to you Emma. You'll be fine, I promise. Just take a deep breath and calm down…" Damon whispers into my ear in a gentle and caring voice. He just mutters more sweet and comforting words to me, occasionally kissing the top of my head. He doesn't let go once I've halted my crying either, we continue to stand in each other's arms, both of our eyes shut in contentment. We fit so well together and it's crazy how relaxing it is to be wrapped up in him.

"Guys…I don't think I can hold this connection for much longer…" Ben interrupts our moment, pain and disgust in his voice. I forgot he was even standing there…a sudden wave of guilt flashes over me, realizing how painful it must be for him to watch me in the arms of the creature he hates most in this world. "Sorry lovebirds." He doesn't sound the least bit sorry.

"Just hold in there Emma, I'll save you." Damon pulls out of our hug and stares deeply into my eyes. I try to focus on his words instead of his hypnotizing eyes.

"How?" I ask as tears well up into my eyes, not slipping over the edge.

"We'll figure something out. Just don't get figured out on me okay? I still love you Emma."

"I-" I start to say back, wanting to not leave anything unsaid when the connection is suddenly broken. "No!" I shout but I find myself shouting at the empty vast forest. I take a deep breath and start to walk back to camp when I remember that I need to hunt down a werewolf to prove that I'm on the side of the Slayers.

I take a sudden left, walking in the opposite direction of both camp and where I just had a meeting with Damon. I'm sure there is some random werewolf wandering around these woods at six in the morning. My sarcasm is intended. As I hike up over fallen trees, vines, and the occasional furry little creature I continue to fight the scrambling worry that clouds my mind.

"No!... Please!... Help! ..Let me go!... I beg you!... You can't do this!...Go to hell!...I'll get out of here!...I'll kill you!" All off these phrases begin to fill the air around me, muffled by the barriers between me and whoever is yelling. I pick up my pace and rush towards the voices because whoever is calling out is obviously in desperate need of help! As I get closer, I find nothing but a few people that I recognize from camp strolling in and out of a cave that is veiled by leaves and branches.

"What the…" I tip toe behind a nearby tree and just watch for a little while as people with the thorn circlet on their wrist maneuver in an out, the screams never pausing. I have no idea what's going on or where the screams are coming from until one of the guys comes out, dragging something on a chain. It's not until he's completely out of the cave that I realize what it is.

"Please, please! Just let me go!" The man leashed at the end of the chain begs as if he's begging for his life, which I kind of think he is. "I'll do anything; tell you anything that you want! PLEASE!" The man looks worn out and exhausted as if from having been put through a lot of stress. There are cuts and burn marks up his arms and across his face. They've been torturing him.

"No, you will stay within the confines of these woods. The Reeves psychic is on her first hunt and you have the honor of stumbling into her path. We sent her out looking a few hours ago, we don't want to make it too obvious that we're springing you out for her. We've got people posted along the borders of the forest so you won't try and escape on us." Then man dragging him snarls at him in a harsh voice.

"I'm going to die if I stay in the woods?" The chained man asks, staring up at his captor's face. He nods his head in response, a cold glare of hatred raying back down at him. The man begins thanking him over and over again, as if he's just been given a gift. "I promise I won't leave, I wouldn't risk having to go back in there!" The man clasping the chain in his hands just rolls his eyes and unhooks the leash from the collar around the man's neck.

"Just remember that you still have wolfsbane in your system, you're weaker than the average human being."

I bolt away from the tree, trying to get away from the area. I keep running and running, refusing to believe what I just saw. I know that they all hate vampires and werewolves and every other creature on this planet that isn't human or psychic but, I never thought that they were this cruel! I can't kill this man, knowing that when I do that it'll be because he's been tortured by my people and sent out to die. I crouch in the bushes and wait for the man to suddenly show up. He first begins to stumble then when he spots me slowly rising from my position and into his view he straightens up and pretends to be completely fine.

"Get out of here." I whisper quietly, quickly hopping over to him. "I don't want to kill you!"

"What?" The man asks in a whisper-shouting voice. Seeing that I have no intentions to end his life, he crumples over frontwards, giving into the pain. "You need to let me die and save the others."

"I…what?" I get down on my knees next to the man. "Get up, I'll help you sneak past the guards. I know where the weakest post is and I can take that psychic out like it's nothing. I'm related to the original psychic and I am not nearly as heartless as the rest of them." The man coughs and smiles with a slight chuckle. "What?"

"I've spent my entire life waiting for you and you choose to show up when I'm dying. It's just ironic." He seethes with short choppy breaths.

"What do you mean?" I ask, wondering if this man has become hysterical from his injuries. He doesn't even know me, how can he have waited his whole life waiting for me?

"You're meant to bring these people down, to bring us all together, it's been foretold for centuries that a reincarnation of Alexandria would be born. Those people are trying to corrupt you while you're still young, because they've seen it before. They've seen the future where they aren't in control any longer and they are trying to alter it before it's too late. Stay strong and don't fall into their tricks, stay true to who you are and you can overcome.

"Reincarnation of…no I can't be…"

"It has truly been an honor and gift to die knowing that I'd get help from you Alexandria…"

"My name is Emma! Stop talking crazy!" I yell at the man, fresh tears dripping from my tear ducts. I've cried a lot today and it's only ten in the morning.

"You're our only…" The man starts before he stops breathing and with his dying breath I barely hear him utter the word "hope."

I check his pulse and there's no doubt in my mind that he's dead. I never knew his name but he knew mine. I don't want to believe it but something deep inside of me is telling me that he was speaking the truth. So much of our stories are similar, spare the arranged marriage. Maybe this is my chance to be happy, to get to be with the vampire I fell in love with. Damon already almost killed me but didn't. Perhaps that was meant to happen to prove that things are different than the last time. If that's true though, if I am that reincarnation….

Then I have more power harnessed within me than I could ever imagine.

I levitate the dead werewolf man and begin to sprint back towards the camp, with him trailing in the air behind me. This all is too much for one week and I thought that finding Damon was complicated!

"Emma, you got it!" Zech welcomes me back into camp with those four words, as if they are the best praises ever uttered. He makes me sick to the core and for a second I swear I am going to throw up all over him. "How'd you kill it? He doesn't look injured at all…"

"I used my psychic abilities to make his heart explode." I hear the words come out of my mouth yet, the voice sounds so enthusiastic that it's hard to fathom that the sentence came from my lips. All this does is cause me to internally freak out even more than I already was before, if that's even possible.

"Good job, you've passed." Zech nods, turning to walk away and continue on whatever business he has.

"I saw the cave." I say in slightly hostile voice, not sure to which side now that my lies and act is already beginning to take control of me without even having to think about it anymore. Zech turns and stares me down, looking flabbergasted. "Why are you torturing them? It'd be quicker to rid the world of them if you just do it quickly as I did with that thing." I nod at the dead body lying on the ground. Wow, it's almost creepy how well I can play one of these people.

"How did you find it?" He ignores my comment about the speed of their killing.

"I heard them screaming."

"How?"

"What do you mean?"

"There is a spell on the cave so that no noise can escape the dungeon."

"I don't know, maybe it's because I'm the _relative_ of Alexandria's." I put little extra emphasis on the relative part, just to get a little anger out. "Now screw how or why I found it, answer my question."

"They have information that we need, where others are, their secrets of how they thrive, etcetera. Plus they've killed their fair share of people each, they _deserve_ it."

"I agree." I lie walking past him and leaving the body just sitting there at his feet. I keep my composer until the door of my tent swings shut behind me. Then I drop to my knees and silently cry to myself.

Later that night, after everyone else is asleep, I sneak out of my tent and bury the werewolf on the very outside edge of the forest. He will rest free from the Slayers, just as I promised him.

**Wow, that took a turn I didn't expect until I wrote it…I like it, what about you guys? 2+ reviews for me to start the next ch!**


	8. Butting Heads

**Oh GOD! I am SOOOOOOOO sorry guys! I don't' know where the time went! It's been MONTHS since I last updated this and I cannot really come up with a good excuse why. I can only apologize and promise to do my best to update more. I mean really, here I am bitching about not getting enough reviews and I'm being inconsistent and leaving you all out alone. Ok ok ok, I'll shut up now and let you read…**

I hear someone at the desk in the far corner of my tent. They are shuffling through my stuff which is pretty irritating to say in the least. Are they going to go through my stuff on a regular basis, just to be sure that I'm not hiding anything from them or something? I killed someone for them! Kind of. They should trust me by now! Despite the fact that I'm being condescending. The entire scenario and how I feel about it has my head reeling in never ending circles.

"You won't find anything." I finally mumble from my spot, laying on the bed with my back to them. The noise suddenly stops on the spot and I roll over to face who it is that is digging through my desk like they are in a frantic search of something in it. The scrawny white boy with pale skin, freckles, and dark hair looks as if he's just been caught with a smoking gun. "What's your name?"

"D-D-Darrel Edwards…ma'am." The boy stammers, fidgeting his hands around themselves with a kind of nervousness that I've never experienced coming from someone talking to me before.

"Relax with the ma'am. I'm a miss first off and secondly you're the same age as me." I chuckle, sitting up in bed and running my hands through my snarly hair. "And if you tell me what you think you're doing and who you're working for, so I can tell Zech, then this entire thing can be over."

"Um…well…uh…that's just the thing…" Darrel stutters rubbing the back of his head and kicking the ground with his beat up black converse sneaker. "I…am…looking under the request…_of_ Zech."

"What?" I snap, my entire mood changing from content to irritation automatically. "In search of what, huh?" I jump right out of bed and rush toward him, causing the boy to stumble back a few steps with alarm. "That man was the one that set up my room! I came here with nothing, _nothing_ how in the world could I be hiding something? Then sending YOU in here to look for anything that may make me look bad!"

"The necklace!" He shouts suddenly and slightly out of character of what he's presented to me so far. I stop ranting at him and just stare at him in shock. "He didn't tell me much, only to sneak into your tent before you woke up and fish out the necklace. He told me that he was looking for the old looking dark blue amulet on a silver chain. Maybe you could tell me where you keep that?"

"I…I-I don't have a necklace at all with that description…"

"That's odd…" Darrel admits, shoving his hands awkwardly in his pockets. "Why would he send me in after a necklace you do not own?"

"I'm not sure…" I admit, tiptoeing to the flap of my tent and peeking out the slit slightly waving in the morning breeze. Zech is perched outside his tent, by a fire while a female around his age is preparing him something for breakfast. He eyes are cast sternly on my tent, as if his main focus this morning is on me and me alone. He does not care about whatever story it appears the girl be telling him. He's transfixed on my dwelling that he gave me; worry shining out of the glimmer the fire gives his eyes. "I'll be damned if I don't find out though." I step away from the opening and address Darrel once more, a sort of leadership in my voice, as if I am allowed to be directing him. Almost like it's my job. "Go out and tell him that the necklace is not to be found in here and if he would so like to snoop through my things, he can do so with permission. But if he feels he must do it while I'm sleeping then he should pick a more quiet and careful man…no offense."

"None taken." Darrel chortles, stumbling out of my tent with an amused smirk on his face. He seems nice. Poor guy is being used by Zech though.

What does he want with a necklace anyways? Especially one that I do not own…

Perhaps it isn't that he's looking for a necklace that I own so much as one he doesn't wish for me to own. It's an intriguing idea that I'll have to look further into some other time, today I need to continue to come up with a plan as to how I'm going to escape this hell trap I've been locked into. I start by changing my clothes and brushing my hair, whatever it is that I feel I must do to get ready for the day. Momentarily the comfort of the routine almost makes my situation seem normal. I chuckle at my own thought and emerge from my tent, to fix my eyes on a flustered looking Zech strangling Darrel with his mind.

The face that was white as paper when I last saw it is now a plum purple as the boy gasps for breath. His hands are clawing at his neck as if he'll be able to claw a hole for him to breathe though. My eyes keep flickering back to his black ring around his wrist, branding him as one of us. Zech is muttering some type of vehemently words with that dark and rugged voice of his. I don't need to actually hear the words to know the intensity to his voice. I observe other people's reactions to this scene and I'm shocked to see that they're doing the same as I am, all just standing and watching with pleading eyes. As if this were not anything new what-so-ever and that they refuse to help this guy just because Zech is the one that is doing this to him.

Now I understand that Zech must be one powerful mother-effer to be able to use his telekinesis to strangle a person to death but, I don't believe that merits him to do that. I suppose they are all afraid that if they try to stop him, he'll just turn his mind-blowing capabilities onto them instead. I suddenly find myself running towards the spectacle, angry tears forming in my eyes already from this. I don't feel like myself though, it's as if I were watching a movie of someone doing this and not me. The dead silence that fills the air somehow grows even quieter as the crowd's eyes widen with horror as I approach the two guys with a mission obvious in my head. These people must think I'm some psycho that has a sort of death wish picked out for myself.

I don't have time to think this through; if I did stop to process my actions then Darrel would already be dead by the time my decision was made. Killer or not, brain washed or not; this kid does not deserve to die. Especially not in the hands of the man that he's spent pretty much his entire life following.

I shove Zech as hard as I can, breaking his concentration, and causing him to stumble back a few steps.

"Hey! Who the hell do you think you are?" I scream at him as if he was an annoying thirteen year old hoodlum that just sprayed graffiti to a building. Zech's wild eyes dart deep into mine, anger clear as a window pane. I don't waver, despite my mind screaming at me to do conflicting things. My weaker side is reprimanding myself for being so stupid. My stronger side is telling me to keep going while I'm ahead.

"I could ask you the same question…" He seethes at me with a growl viciously snapping in his throat.

"I think I'm fed up with you and the way you act like you own everybody! We all have a gift, something that can be beautiful and be used for good. Yet, here you are! Wasting it on torturing and destroying one another! What good is a family that is built on hate?" I start, taking baby steps closer to him to get into his face. "A self-destructive one is what we'll have if this is what you and your people think is the correct way to go about things! The Slayers will no longer last if you all keep this up; and it won't be the vampires or werewolves or even the stray witches that will be your demise. It will be you and you alone."

I turn my back on him and kneel down next to Darrel, knowing very well that taking my eyes off of him risks death. But something inside me is telling me that he won't attack. Not yet at least. If I keep pushing his tolerance, maybe he will. Not now though, not with my message proving much truer in comparison to his. I help the kid up and lead him over to the tent he claims to be his, a mother and family chasing after me in earnest.

I just saved their boy's life.

I leave the boy with his mother, not daring to intrude on such a delicate family matter. The bawling mother blubbers an emotional thank you but I can barely understand her words as I pass by her, only nodding in return. I can feel the respect radiating at me as I march back out into the tent village. It's coming from everywhere. Spare a single icy beam of discontent.

"Zech, may I speak with you? Alone." I request in a stern tone of voice, as if our roles were switched. As if I was the leader and he was the young and foolish psychic novice. He huffs an angered breath and follows me into my tent, glaring over his shoulder at his people, heeding a silent warning to not disturb this meeting. "Why are you looking in my tent for jewelry?" I ask suddenly, turning and facing him out of the blue. "I mean, I know you probably want to get her something nice but blue isn't really her color, plus I believe she prefers gold to silver. Tsk, tsk Zech. Don't you know your wife at all?"

"Oh Emma, you're ever so witty." Zech muses in a cool voice, obviously containing his anger. "You really shouldn't worry about it however, the necklace is nothing important."

"That's a lie and we both know it." I taunt, much to the surprise of Zech. "I'm a pretty powerful psychic. Do you really think I don't know what you're looking for?"

"Oh really? You…you had a vision of the necklace?"

"Yes, I did and I know where the little trinket is hidden." I lie, hoping that is I play along then he'll release a little extra information about what he's looking for.

"That's quite interesting, being that no one, not even the originals had the ability to see the amulet in visions."

My face drops and he sneers, inwardly celebrating his ability to call my bluff. I smile at his annoyed face. "How else would I know that its stone is blue and it hangs on a silver chain? I've never held it before in my life and yet I know exactly what you're looking for."

That causes Zech's face to drop from smug to concern in less than a millisecond. His gaze on me reveals that he's battling in his mind whether or not I'm lying to him. If it's true what he says about the amulet, then how could I have possibly ever seen it before? However, how else would I know of its physical description? He doubts very much that a novice like me has ever heard the legendary stories of the talisman; they are only told to the very powerful psychics and for good reason. The legend ends that Alexandria will return again and that her fate could go either way, in favor of them or the others. It was obvious that I was on their side, but he wasn't sure if he was ready to give me that much power over him.

"You're bluffing."

"Am I? That's for me to know and you for to…" I sneer, striding towards my exit and lifting the door flap. I pause and look back over my shoulder at the flustered looking man. "Well, you know the rest." As I strut out of the tent, I know that Damon would be proud of me. The timing, the way I said it, everything reminded me of him.

"Wait!" Zech's voice calls out from behind me. I twirl and around and face him, jutting out my hip and smirking at him evilly. "Where are you going?"

"Out. Who are you, my father?"

BANG! That's two for me.

I rush away from the camp as fast as I can run, claiming to everyone asking what's wrong that I think I dropped my cellphone in the woods while I hunted yesterday. If they knew what I am really up to then I'd probably be totally tied to a wooden stake on fire.

I'm going to go have a little chat with the Slayer's most wanted vampire.

"Damon…" I mutter quietly, closing my eyes and focusing all my energy on picturing what he is doing right this second and trying to pull him away from it. A short flash of a handsome man reading an old looking book pops into my head and I quickly alter the picture in my head, add myself to this scene and suddenly I open my eyes to find myself there. "Hey."

"Emma!" Damon cries out in surprise, tossing the book over his shoulder. "You figured out how to conjure a vision? By yourself? Ben said that it could take you years to figure that out…"

"Ben doesn't know that I'm a reincarnate of Alexandria Forte."

"I'm sorry who?" Damon laughs lightly, confused by this random name.

"Ah, you need to read up on your supernatural history Damon. She's the original psychic."

I watch amused as Damon's eyes go wide in shock. I nod my head as he jumps up from his seat and begins to pace the floor, allowing this information to soak in better than before. He nods a few times and sighs, stopping and staring at me. He doesn't say anything, only drinks in my appearance as if I were a dream. In a way I suppose I am, considering that my actual being is not in his house as much as I wish it were. I shot him a confused look, a nervous hand reaching up and smoothing my hair.

"Please excuse my staring, I just keep forgetting how beautiful you are." He comments shrugging his shoulders and rounding the chair to pick up the book he was reading. "How are you holding up this vision? This stuff isn't easy to endure Emma…I had Ben give me a quick 101 on how visions work."

"I'm fine, it's kind of like…I'm holding onto a ledge as I dangle over a cliff. It's painful, but necessary for life." My analogy causes a smile to reach his lips I return it before walking over and looking at the leather bound stack of ancient papers in his hand. "What's this?"

"A book on your kind, Ben helped me find it. I'm searching for any and every weakness of you creatures, that way I can devise a plan to help you escape." His voice drops into a very invested and focused tone that he only uses when he's dead serious about something. "I've learned some very i_nteresting _things about you, just through this…"

"Like what?" I ask, slightly offended that he believes that I can be easily defined by a book written by a person who has never met me. I decide to read the page he's on aloud. "Psychics are the most passionate beings on the planet, despite the elevated nature of the vampire that closely rivals it. Psychics are fiercely loyal, pig headed, hate the most they can, and love with every fiber of their being. It is rumored that an attraction to other psychics are more powerful than love. This connection can only be found possible if and only if the psychic themself have never been in love before. Due to their passionate nature, once they love someone nothing can stop them…ever…"

The air grows thicker as I read, my inner turmoil being presented before my eyes. This is why I seem to be unable to return the attraction that is apparent to Ben and this is why I cannot get over Damon. My heart begins pounding harder and harder as I suddenly become more aware of the closeness of Damon to my body. An embarrassment floods in quickly, Damon knows full well that I have not been able to relinquish my love for him. I can sense it. My heart pounds hard enough in my chest that I'm sure that people outside of our vision can hear it. The sexual tension is thick enough to be cut with a knife. I gasp as I look back down at the page, searching for a loophole.

"Relax, turn the page." Damon says, doing so himself and reading the next sentence to me. "There is the possibility however, that the psychic c_an_ stop loving one if they truly honestly desire that with all their heart and soul."

"Oh? Well then I guess I'm not screwed then…" I lie blatantly, trying to avoid eye contact with Damon. One little glance and he'd know I'm lying through my teeth. "I…I uh…I should go…"

"Was there a purpose to this meeting Emma? Or did you only want to see me?"

"Oh! Right…Something fishy is going on with Zech. He's hiding some sort of blue amulet from me. I don't why or what the necklace does but, there has to be a good reason for it…"

"Find it. Having possession over it will give you the upper hand."

"That's what I thought you'd think. I figured that I'd let you in on this information." I say, preparing to let go of the vision. "You're getting pretty cozy with Ben…you two…_friends_?"

"I don't _have_ friends Emma, you know that." Damon jokes, noticing that I'm messing with my clothes as if I were about to walk out into the windy summers night. "Be careful, be safe. For me."

"What makes you think that has any weight with me." I tease, finally looking him straight in the blue pools of expansive beauty. He chuckles and shakes his head, uttering a goodbye. I return this goodbye before finally letting go of this dream-like encounter. That conversation was almost like old times...we're different people now and the topics are a crazy amount different, but that same sense of humor is still there.

The very instant that I let go of my vision, a stabbing pain jolts into my stomach almost as if someone had come up and shanked me with a moving drill. I crumple over in pain, holding my stomach while also trying to dab the sweat that is coating my skin. I wasn't yet ready to do something like that, but I did it anyway knowing that full well. I just _had_ to see him. I hate myself sometimes, I really do. I close my eyes for a moment, letting the bright sun so shut out from reaching my eyes.

When I decide to open them again, the sun is gone.

I jolt upright and looking all around me in a daze. A bluish-black tint has taken over the air around me, the only light coming from the waning moon. It's night. I've been MIA from the Slayers' camp a_ll day_…that doesn't look suspicious or anything. I jump up to my feet and feel a lot more wobbly than I imagined I would. I hold my spinning head into place before I begin to run back towards the camp, the trail I leave behind my foot steps being sloppy. What do I tell the others when I return? _Sorry, I was busy contacting that vampire you're all after. I've never done that on my own before and so I passed out. My bad?_

"Emma, you're okay!" The voice of Jenny cries from the little tent village. I smile and nod as she races into my arms. "I was so worried! Zech said to let you go, he knew you'd come back. I didn't think you were abandoning us though, I thought that you had gone out and gotten hurt. My mom told me not to worry, a decedent of a Reeves' psychic can take care of herself. Zech was pretty sure that you were out training and just passed out, it's quite common in younger psychics…" She pauses to quickly look me up and down and plucks a dead leaf from my hair. "It appears that he was right." She giggles, causing me to blush slightly and nod. I lead her with me further into the camp.

"Jenny…what do you know of a blue necklace? One that Zech would be…searching for?" I know that this is reckless and stupid to ask one of them such a dangerous question. She's the only person I've met that I feel actually comfortable around however and maybe she can be coaxed out of the slayers.

"You mean Alexandria Forte's pendant?" Jenny asks quietly, in a voice that tells me that she's not supposed to know about it. We both halt in front of my tent and I nod solemnly, pretending that I already knew what this necklace is. "Get inside, I'll help nurse your weak stat and tell you anything that you wish to know." She holds open the flap of my tent for me, gesturing for me to go inside.

I begin to duck into mu living space when I pause and look over at the cute little red head that's staring at me with innocent eyes. "How old are you again?"

She only smiles and we both enter.

**Review if you still love me **


	9. The Pendant

**I didn't get any reviews on my 8****th**** ch. But I just don't care anymore. I'm just gunna post when I feel inspired which I happen to feel right now. :PP Enjoyyyy! :DDD**

"Let me get this straight…the amulet has Alexandria's powers in it?" I ask after Jenny is through explaining it all to me.

"Not exactly, it has her soul, her memories, and yes; her powers as well." She says as she continues to play with my hair using her nimble and gentle fingers. "Basically, a witch helped her out by bewitching an amulet to hold her soul in it, with magic. Basically, she can never die as long as the amulet continues to hold her soul. She'll just continue to reincarnate."

"This is starting to get too Harry Potter horcrux for me…" I mutter, planting my face into my hands. I hear Jenny's upbeat giggles at my comment as she ties off the end of my braid. "How am I supposed to get my hands on it? How do I access her powers? Do I just have to put it on?"

"I haven't the slightest idea. I've told all that I know, sorry Emma…I wish I could be of more help…"

"No, trust me you've done more than enough for me. Based off of what you told me, you're not even supposed to know this stuff."

"What can I say, I get curious and being as small as I am I can easily hide in the meeting tents." She points out with a joking shrug of her shoulders. "You said that you've been able to develop your powers enough that you can speak with Damon and Ben right?"

"Yeah." I state looking at her curiously. I came clean to her about my secret meetings with their enemies. Jenny never wavered her loyalty from me. In fact she was happy for me; that I was able to master that skill so quickly. She doesn't seem to be on the side of the Slayers. She doesn't seem like a Slayer at all really, she's too sweet; too compassionate. "So what?"

"What about Katerina Petrova?" She inquires, using her old name that the Slayers all seem to know her by. I burrow my eyebrows at the sudden mention of the bitchy vampire that had become a friend to me in the past few weeks. It's hard for me to even fathom that she and I used to hate each other with a burning passion. What does Jenny think I'd need her for though? "She's fierce, just like you. She is willing to go to further lengths to prove a point but, the same fire is lying underneath the pretty exterior. She may be your key to finding that necklace."

"How so?"

"Think about it, she's a master in the art of trickery. Based on stories of her, she may be clever enough to give you a good idea."

"I could try…" I admit with a sigh. I haven't contacted her once since departing in the woods last week, the thought of just sending a vision to her and begging her to help me seems redundant to me. What would she say exactly?

I lift my eyes to meet the green ones of my little red headed friend. Her eyes hold an expectancy that causes me to lock our gazes longer than I intended. "Wait, you mean now?"

"No time like the present, right?"

I heave an exasperated sigh and nod my head, knowing deep down that she's right. As I flutter my eyes closed and attempt to concentrate, I start forming an idea of what I'm going to say to her. _What's up Kat, how yah been? Killed any innocent people lately? Oh hey, could you come up with a diabolical scheme to trick the Slayers into giving me that amulet of Alexandria Forte?_ I hardly find that to be a good opening liner.

I never get to try it out on her however because out of nowhere an odd sound begins to fill the air around us. It sounds almost like a beacon call but, that may just be my imagination. I open my eyes and check over my shoulder to be sure that Jenny had heard it too. She's quickly tying off the end of my braid. "What is that?" The look on her determined face proves that she's heard it and whatever it is, it's important.

"Group meeting. We must be relocating…again…"

"Relocating?" My throat clenches, knots, and drops into my stomach. How will Damon save me if we move? Setting that point aside, Jenny looks forlorn. "you don't like moving around so much, do you?"

"I just…I feel like a nomad or something. I never get a place I consider to be my home. It's like we stay in one place just long enough for me to get used to it and then we pull up stakes and move."

"I'm sorry." I place a gentle hand on her shoulder, truly feeling sympathy for my new ally. "At least you've got your family with you." I remind her, looking for that sweet half-smile of hers.

"Let's get to the meeting and find out where we're moving to." She simply says, refusing to offer up any sort of emotion at all. I sigh and trail after her, praying that my slight fear will emanate off as more of curiosity.

The entire mass of our little cult are cluttering the mouth of Zech's tent. I look over at Jenny with a ruffled look of confusion, she just shakes her head and leads the way. We both take a seat near the back, not daring to be bold enough to sit up front next to Zech after the little stunts I've been pulling. I watch with wary curiosity as Zech steps out of his tent, looking as bad ass and sly as ever. His entire demeanor is exactly like Damon and the thought of it makes me queasy. Stubble has sprouted like little razors around his jaw, symptoms that he's been too preoccupied with other things to focus on silly matters such as shaving. I take note of it in my head as Zech begins the meeting.

"I'm leaving." He says abruptly. I blink in surprise, turning to gauge how Jenny is taking this news. She looks just as caught off guard as me. "There is an object that we must obtain. I plan on bringing my new apprentice, Darrel." My brows furrow at the name. He nearly killed him this morning and now he's suddenly decided to _take him under his wing_ or something? I glance over my shoulder at the woman with a protective arm wrapped around Darrel's proud frame. I roll my eyes and turn back around. The fool thinks Zech actually finds use for him…_Does he though?_ I look over at them again, a look of more determination stuck on my face. "I'll also be requesting the company of our local original bloodline member." I jolt around and glare at him, trying to figure out what type of sick game he's playing. "What do yah say Emma? You up for an Adventure?"

It seems I've done nothing but adventure for months.

"You bet I am." I reply.

There's no way I'm letting him out of my sight for however long. For all I know he's going after Damon. That thought's scarier than the comparison between this sicko and Damon. I get up from my place and push through the crowd, determining this meeting over by the way Zech just retired to his tent once again.

"You look like shit, Zech. What's going on? Where're we going? And most importantly what are we looking for?"

"Don't worry about it." He grumbles, flopping his head down onto his desk with defeat.

"Don't worry about it? Very funny. I'm not going anywhere with you until you tell me why you're stressing out so much and what you need me for."

"You really are a persistent bugger, aren't you?" He chuckles sitting up long enough to take a swig from his flask, once me over once more, and place his head back onto the table. I glower at his hung over state with annoyance. It really has been a rough week for him, hasn't it?

"Cut the bullshit. The object you're looking for. It's the pendant isn't it?"

"Ah, so you've weaseled enough information out of the council members."

"As much as I'd love to blame my knowledge of Ms. Reeves' pendant on the innocent people of your stupid council so you can violently punish them, I didn't." I say and I'm not particularly lying either. Jenny is not on the council. "I've told you before and I'll tell you again, I already knew this information. Stop being stubborn and tell me what I want to know Zech."

"Fine! Yes, we're after the fucking amulet! Are you happy?" He shouts in a frustrated exclamation as his fists against the wooden desk ball up. His sits up and pinches his nose bridge, trying to calm himself down. "We really need to find this necklace Emma. It's imperative. If they find it first, they'll have control of your future."

"Oh no…" I choke after trying to clear my throat. "What power would they have over me though? I mean honestly, I already hate them."

"They can destroy the amulet. They destroy that and Alexandria's soul is dead forever."

"Why did you lie to me before?" I inquire, capturing his full attention by my vague question. "You told me that I was just merely related to Alexandria. I'm not. We _both_ know that's not true. I'm her reincarnate through and through."

"I didn't want you to freak out because you didn't seem like you knew a thing about yourself. I didn't want to overwhelm you…"

I'm shocked by the traces of caring in his voice. I swallow down my guilt for playing these people like violins, deceiving them about who I truly am at heart. Would Alexandria do that? How am I supposed to know? I don't have the necklace yet. Once I get my hands on it I'll be able to figure everything out. Until then…I'm at the mercy of this guy.

**I know it's short and I've been gone for SO LONG! But, I've been WICKED busy! I don't even know where the time went! Next update will be longer + sooner! PROMISE!**


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